During today’s CIVEX debate on The EU’s Strategic Approach to the Black Sea – Local and regional dimensions, EPP-CoR members underlined that the Black Sea has become a strategic testing ground for Europe’s security, resilience and connectivity—requiring an EU-level response with a dedicated budget line and a strong role for local and regional authorities.
They stressed that the Black Sea must remain a secure, open and European sea, and that an effective strategy must combine hard security, infrastructure and mobility, economic resilience, good governance, and a just transition that reaches beyond coastal areas into inland regions.
Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca (RO/EPP) highlighted that “The Black Sea is not—and must not become—a Russian lake. It is a European frontier, a sea of freedom. There can be no real strategy for the Black Sea without the Danube, and no strategy for the Danube without the Black Sea—these two areas must be interconnected. Financing this strategy is financing Europe’s security: we are all in the same boat.”
Members welcomed the draft opinion and proposed reinforcing it by including local and regional authorities in EU maritime surveillance frameworks, including the Black Sea Maritime Security Hub, and by strengthening border management cooperation with Frontex to address illegal migration, smuggling and trafficking.
“At local and regional level, infrastructure matters—but so does resilience against capture. We must address the risks of opaque structures, especially in the media ecosystem, and integrate transparency requirements into follow-up and funding mechanisms.” said Thibaut Guignard, Municipal Councillor of Ploeuc-l’Hermitage (FR/EPP).
Csaba Borboly, Vice-President of Harghita County Council (RO/EPP) stressed that “The Black Sea strategy must go beyond the coastal focus. Its impacts reach inland rural and mountainous regions as well. Leaving no one behind must guide the strategy—equal treatment does not mean equal outcomes. Climate action must go hand in hand with a fair social transition.”
“This opinion rightly brings together different dimensions of security. In today’s context, we speak a lot about hard defence, but overall security also requires resilience, the Sustainable Development Goals, and a firm commitment to the rule of law and human rights.” said Sari Rautio, President of the EPP-CoR (FI/EPP).
“The Black Sea is no longer just a neighbourhood—it is the frontline of our Union. We need urgency and a fully-fledged EU strategy with a dedicated budget line: protecting offshore energy assets, upgrading and securing ports as gateways for Ukraine’s reconstruction, and strengthening north–south connectivity for military mobility and economic resilience.” underlined Alin-Adrian Nica, Councillor at Timiș County Council (RO/EPP).
EPP-CoR members concluded that the Black Sea strategy must be treated as a strategic EU priority, anchored in strong local and regional involvement, and backed by targeted funding in the next Multiannual Financial Framework—because what is at stake is not only the security of frontline states, but the security of the European Union as a whole.