On Thursday 2 June 2011, the annual Summer Night Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra took place with more than 100.000 visitors and millions of television viewers worldwide. The whole Austrian Government and Commissioner Johannes Hahn attended the concert.

The concert was broadcast by more than 60 television networks worldwide, amongst them 40 European Broadcasting Union Members.

On this occasion Philharmonic Chairman Dr. Clemens Hellsberg referred live on stage to the Danube Strategy and praised the European Commission for its initiative. Underpinning his statement, the Philharmonic played as second encore "Vom Donaustrande" by Johann Strauss. Thus, the Danube Strategy could be promoted to millions of viewers worldwide.

The EU Strategy for the Danube Region was endorsed by the General Affairs Council on 13 April 2011. This result was achieved due to the efforts and the commitment of the Hungarian Presidency to the Strategy. It is expected that the EUSDR will be formally endorsed by the European Council on 24 June 2011.

The First Joint Priority Area Coordinators' meeting was organised by the Hungarian Presidency in Gödöllő, Hungary between 8 and 10 May 2011. This meeting, which started the implementation phase of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, brought together National Contact Points, Priority Area Coordinators and the Commission to discuss technical issues and establish a common future approach. The various workshops focused on issues of governance and financing and representatives of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region answered questions about their experiences on macro-regional cooperation.

In his opening speech at Gödöllő, Commissioner Johannes Hahn praised the work already completed and conveyed his vision of an attractive and prosperous Danube Region. Johannes Hahn also had an informal breakfast meeting with the Priority Area Coordinators and thanked them personally for their enthusiasm and hard work.

The official endorsement of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region by the Heads of State is foreseen for 24 June 2011, and the implementation of specific actions will start afterwords.

The general progress of the Strategy is very positive. The majority of kick off meetings for the Priority Areas will take place by the end of June 2011.

A visual identity was developed by Interact and proposed to the Priority Area Coordinators during the first Priority Area Coordinators meeting in Gödöllő. The main logo of the visual identity represents and symbolises the Strategy (as presented). The visual identity also addresses the variety of themes covered by the Strategy, by repeating the same logo in different colours for each pillar.

Interact has also developed a web platform for PACs and the Danube Labgroup in order to facilitate their coordination work. Currently, the platform is in a testing phase with the PACs and stakeholders and has the vocation to become the EUSDR website once its shows success.

If you need to use the logo, please contact Elise Blaise at elise.blais@interact-eu.net

The first meeting of the "Danube Region Strategy Labgroup" took place in Vienna on 17 March 2011 and was the occasion to bring together representatives from national and regional authorities responsible for convergence, competitiveness and territorial cooperation programmes, ESF programmes, European Commission - DG Regional Policy, the European Investment Bank, as well as other financing institutions and actors.

The "Danube Region Strategy Labgroup" is a think tank that will address the new challenges and opportunities of the Strategy for the day-to-day management of operational programmes. The Labgroup shall build on practical expertise of its members and support the development of operational guidance in line with programmes' practices and needs.

The Second meeting of the Danube Labgroup is taking place this week on 14 - 15 June 2011 in Budapest. The discussions will focus on two main aspects: the next steps necessary to get from the Strategy to action and what can be learned from the experience of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

A specific session will be devoted to the communication aspects and coordination among the different stakeholders and how the web platform could help the future implementation work.

For more information, please write to: ip.vienna@interact-eu.net

Find out about the various events organised throughout the Danube Region on the occasion of Danube Day 2011.