Potential Contributions of South East European Local Governments to the Regional Economic Area (MAP REA)
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1.4. AUSTRIA Regional Development and Support System of the Austrian Province of Styria CASE 1: STYRIAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT SYSTEM (REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT LAW /ECONOMIC PROMOTION AGENCY) Basic Information The Austrian federal province of Styria (Land Steiermark, 1.2 million inhabitants) enacted a new “Regional Development Law” in 2018, covering the whole county. A budget framework of 12 Mn € p.a. is foreseen for derived activities and measures. As well as the new law, Styria has an “Economic Promotion Agency” (SFG), established as a Ltd. Company, since 1991. SFG turns over 42 Mn € p.a. out of province funds and is therefore leveraging an investment amount of 285 Mn €. Contact person: Bernd Gassler, CEO Regionalverband Steirischer Zentralraum Start of the project: see above End of the project / Implementation time frame: on going Inhabitants: see above Costs: see above Type of Financing: public funds Subject Area: economic and social development Brief Description: The purpose of the new law is to create the best prerequisites for a targeted cooperation between all governmental authorities (province/region/municipalities) concerned with economic and social development. An amount of 12 Mn € p.a. is available for these tasks, distributed among the seven “regions” and spent on their own responsibility. The law incorporates citizens’ participation as an essential issue for the regions. The main superordinate goal is to equalize regional imbalances and to govern structural spatial development. Tasks are set on two levels: Federal provincial level: Development strategy framework for the entire province, coordination of regional strategies and spatial policies, tuning of flagship projects. Regional level: Coordination and enforcement of inter-municipal cooperation within the region, elaboration and realization of regional development strategies, proposals for appropriate projects, permanent monitoring. The regional tasks are performed by so-called “Regionalverbände” (regional associations) and their authority independent bodies, the president, the board and the assembly. In the assembly the mayors and councillors of the participating municipalities are represented.
