The present and future of Novohrad
within the Neogradiensis Euroregion

Slovakia and Hungary, together with other countries are applying for a membership in the European Union. It is a meaningful opportunity and a new challenge for our countries, regions, communities, economy, but also for the citizens at the door-step of the XXI. century.

The most important task of the present is that we must be able to jointly and objectively appraise and adapt our expectations from the EU and vice-versa. From the society life's and the citizen's point of view it is very important, how can the expectations, needs and objectives be implemented into the real practice, that is, how can we adopt the principles, how can we live with them.

1. complementary principle
2. principle of concentration
3. principle of programming
4. partnership principle
5. subsidiary principle

and according to the main plan of designation, for the compensation of disparities between regions and also the EU member states

We are in a new programming period and EU financial view, that is in the 2000-2006 period, when the EU is going through a reforming process and when the financing of the candidate countries in the pre-accession period is intensified. Therefore our task is the quality adaptation and harmonization of the Slovak legislation with the EU legislation, the adapting of the budgeting of the public sources in the most efficient way and in accordance with the EU criteria. It is also important to create our institutional capacities for the implementation of the law, financing and EU policy management. This includes the capacity for managing of one of the most important policies, the regional policy - in our conditions, on the level of the Neogradiensis Euroregion.

The efficiency of the state regional policy is directly dependent on the efficiency of the local regional policy, which can not be managed efficiently from the central level, that is, from the state level. The local stakeholders (public administration, municipalities, companies, banks, civic associations etc.) hold the ability of the regions to flexibly react on the possibilities connected to the candidacy and the access of the Slovak and the Hungarian Republic into the EU, to respect the stated principles of the EU, to create viable and sustainable projects with the aim of fulfilling the regional policy, cross-border co-operation between the republics and the EU on local level. The success of the activities depends on the rate of local sources mobilisation, that is, the human, material and financial resources and on the political will, which supports the good relationship between the Slovak and the Hungarian Republic. In order to use all these sources together with the EU sources (pre-accession and support funds of the EU, Know-How, etc.) in the regions effectively, they have to implement new and efficient managing tools. These new managing tools need to fulfil the strategic and operational objectives of the Euroregion in accordance with the aims of Slovakia and Hungary as EU candidates. They also have to fulfil the exercitation of development-oriented policy on the regional and local levels, that is, in microregions, towns and villages in the area of the Neogradiensis Euroregion.

The complexity of the present problems demand systemic thinking and approach also from the lowest levels of society management - the family, organisation, self-government of the region up to the highest, state level.

At the present (in the XXI. century) also the most important drives of the society - the economy and trade - are going through massive changes and development. But in some regions the situation is reverse, low competitiveness, oversaturation of the markets, fall of the meaningful companies, departure of experts - the "flight of brains". This brings economic stagnation, unemployment and decadence. This is characteristic also for our Neogradiensis Euroregion. We want to solve these disparities both on the global and local level according to the principles of the European Union stated in the EU Regional Policy.

By the collecting and processing of the Neogradiensis Euroregion socio-economic analysis, it was possible to familiarize with and identify the strong and weak sides of the Euroregion and also identify the development possibilities and threats. It is a complex base material containing the knowledge needed for the start-up of common development of the Euroregion and for the zest of the cross-border co-operation, the creation of a socio-spatial organisation and for the involvement of a broad spectrum of co-operating parties working on a common "product", the Neogradiensis Euroregion. The most important creators of the common activities will be the partnerships of municipality (towns and villages), enterprises, state and non-state institutions, schools, churches, NGOs and also of citizens of the Euroregion, who have to realize the common responsibility for the stopping of the regression and the securing of sustainable development of the area. The strategic parts, that is, the "General and specific objectives of the Neogradiensis Euroregion development". The priorities, strategies, measures, which eventuate into the realisation of concrete cross-border projects are connected to the state regional policy of the Slovak and Hungarian Republics and to the interstate agreement and other documents containing the EU principles. These documents are creating possibilities for Slovakia and Hungary to exploit the EU sources of PHARE, PHARE CBC, SAPARD, ISPA and other support programs (e.g. INTERREG) already in the pre-accession period,

The European Commission resolution from the 18th of December 1998 opened the possibility for co-operation along the Slovak-Hungarian PHARE-PHARE border. This act created the possibility for starting the PHARE CBC program between Slovakia and Hungary. The cross-border co-operation and partnership building has an extremely important value for the regional development in the Slovak-Hungarian border regions. Because of the border character of this part of Slovakia and Hungary, these regions belong to the most backward and have a lower level of competitiveness.

Hence, the development courses stated in the charter of the NEOGRADIENSIS EUROREGION focus on the increase of competitiveness of our region