Basic objectives
Partnership – Presentation of the Main Partner regions
Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia
Central Directorate International, EU Relations and Local Authorities
Service for EU Relation and EU Integration
Via Trento, 2
34100 Trieste
ITALY
www.regione.fvg.it
Situated at the eastern border of the Italian peninsula, Friuli Venezia Giulia is a meeting point of different cultures and a region where different language communities, such as Italian, Friulian, Slovene and German, have always lived. A natural opening to the sea for many central European countries, the region is crossed by the major transport routes from the east to the west in southern Europe.
The Region of Friuli Venezia is surrounded by several state-borders. It has a northern border with Austria, an eastern border with Slovenia, a southern border with the Adriatic Sea (there is also a "maritime border" with Croatia) and a western border with the Italian Region Veneto. 43% of Friuli-Venezia Giulia territory (size: 7,855 km2) is mountainous area.
The total population of Friuli Venezia Giulia is 1,188,594 inhabitants but it is facing an overall decrease and a general tendency towards ageing. At the same time, it is well positioned to attract immigration flows, mainly from the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
The most important products of the primary sector are cereals, fruit trees, grapes and vineyards. Industry mainly relies on SMEs, operating mostly in the metallurgical, mechanical, food, wood and furniture sectors. Large scale industries operate in the paper, petro-chemical, steel and shipbuilding sectors. The services sector is rather developed, comprising government, insurance, banking and R&D. Thanks to the diversified offer of the region, tourism is growing rapidly, both in the summer and winter seasons.
Because of Friuli Venezia Giulia’s geo-political position and its experience of being a border region, there are several institutional cross-border structures and initiatives (e.g. the INTERREG Community Initiative, Cooperation Protocols, Town Twinnings and networks, the Euroregion project). In addition Friuli Venezia Giulia participates in several international bodies that represent regional interests (Assembly of European Regions - AER, Association of European border regions - AEBR, Committee of the Regions - CoR).
As for INTERREG strand A, Friuli Venezia Giulia is the Central Managing / Paying Authority of INTERREG IIIA Italy-Slovenia and participates in INTERREG IIIA Italy-Austria and also in INTERREG III A Adriatic Cross-border programme. The latter concerns cross border cooperation between Italian Adriatic Regions and East Adriatic countries (Croatia, the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina). Friuli Venezia Giulia’s participation in the Adriatic Cross Border INTERREG is important as the Adriatic area is a crucial cooperation space to speed up the development and stabilisation process of the whole of South Eastern Europe.
Stand: 11.10.2007
