(Note 1) Since the 1970s, the Veneto region and its regional government have been part of a network of international relations made up of Italian, foreign and supranational institutions. Over the last decade, however, the situation has changed radically. Until recently, States and supranational organisations, such as the United Nations (UN) or the Council of Europe, were the protagonists of international relations; nowadays, however, these organisations find themselves increasingly working alongside global enterprises, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), chambers of commerce, universities, as well as a vast range of public and private bodies. Furthermore, the role of territorial, regional and local authorities has grown significantly in accordance with the principles of multilevel governance, especially within the European Union, which is the supranational institution that is paying most attention to these principles and objectives.
Regione Veneto was ahead of the times as in 1978, just a few years after the regional government was founded, it promoted an innovative, forward-looking initiative for those times: la Comunità di Lavoro Alpe Adria (Alps Adriatic Working Community), which was set up in Venezia in association with Italian, Austrian, German and Yugoslav regional authorities (Note 2). Alpe Adria was an early and important link between areas of Europe which, at the time, were divided by the Iron Curtain, yet they were interested in working together to rebuild the long-standing relationship in trade and collaboration that existed between the Alps and Adriatic area. Over the years, it has changed so that it is no longer a political organisation, but rather a promoter of transnational projects to which Regione Veneto has given, as still gives today, a major contribution, as can be established by a detailed account below of the constitution of Euroregione senza confini.
In addition to Alpe Adria, which was unique for its time, associations of European regions grew rapidly with the establishment in 1985 of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) (Note 3) (Figure 18.2.1).
During the 1990s, territorial bodies organised themselves into the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA), an organisation set up in 1994 to represent the regions and local authorities of its forty-seven member countries; it is a privileged space for dialogue where representatives of local and regional authorities can discuss common problems, share experience and express their points of view to their respective central governments.
The presence of the Europe's regions was further strengthened by the establishment of the Committee of the Regions (Note 4), in 1994 with the Treaty on European Union. This committee is a political assembly made up of representatives from Europe's local and regional authorities. Its role is to provide opinions on EU legislation proposed by the European Commission in order to ensure that the needs of regions and local authorities are taken into account within their various sectors of competence.
In Italy, the role of the regions in international affairs was given new life by the reform of Title V of the Italian Constitution, which took place with Constitutional Law LC no. 3/2001. In particular, the reform made it constitutionally possible for the regions to sign agreements with foreign States and conventions with territorial authorities within foreign States on matters concerning them directly, within the boundaries of the law.
Regione Veneto was quick to take advantage of this reform to promote its international activities, which have led it, in less than a decade, to multiply its official relations in terms of friendship and cooperation with foreign States and regions. It has signed about twenty agreements and conventions with States and regions since the constitutional reform of 2001; authorisation has been given to sign another ten or so, which are expected to be entered into during 2010.
Over the last decade, Regione Veneto has boosted its institutional relations by rationalising its activities at international level in accordance with the characteristics and hallmarks of Veneto, as well as with current political and economic trends. Although it maintains its traditional policy of being open to the world, its international activities are geared towards several geographical areas: Latin America, where there are large communities of Veneto emigrants and consequently strong links; Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans due to their proximity, pre-existing ties and opportunities for trade; the Mediterranean Basin, due to the economic, environmental and cultural ties that also concern the historical and artistic patrimony of Veneto origin in Istria, Dalmatia and in other areas including Greece and Cyprus, as well as due to the relations with communities of Italians in Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro; and China, due to the major opportunities for trade and for culture.
In addition to the signing of agreements and conventions, Veneto's network of international relations has evolved thanks to an intense exchange of institutional and technical delegations which have conducted missions abroad and foreign delegations that have visited Veneto, numbers which have grown over the years. These delegations are more than merely representative as they are often motivated by aims to establish economic, social and cultural relations with Veneto.
Delegations have often been an occasion to organise round tables in order to enable meetings and mutual exchanges with Veneto's business associations, universities, volunteer associations, regional organisations and its vast array of bodies and authorities that deal with the management of infrastructure and water resources. These round tables have proved themselves to be important to the coordination of "System Veneto" towards a specific region or foreign country in order to set up new shared ventures and to continue ones that are already in place.
The Adriatic Euroregion was set up in Pola in 2006, although it is currently an association governed by Croatian private law. This Euroregion is nevertheless an important feature in the development of relationships in the Adriatic area, which involves the participation of the regions and local authorities of the Adriatic, from Puglia to the Greek Ionian coasts, as well as the Prefectures of Corfu and Thesprotia (Note 5).
Within the more general environment of human rights and development cooperation policies, Regione Veneto is particularly active as it is part of a system of principles and guidance established at national and international level by the UN, EU and Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The intention is to make a contribution to the formation of a universal system based on human rights as a premise to ensure peace, democracy, security and sustainable development for all (Note 6).

Regione Veneto passed its innovative Regional Law LR no. 55/1999 "Regional intervention for the promotion of human rights, the culture of peace, development cooperation and solidarity", which celebrated its tenth anniversary in December 2009. This important piece of legislation enabled the meticulous planning and optimum resource-management of international projects with major contributions from Veneto's chambers of commerce, volunteer associations, NGOs, local authorities, as well as its public and private institutions. The law promoted the formation of a network of Veneto's public and private organisations that acts and cooperates within a common framework of values geared towards the promotion of social and economic development and human rights.
Since this law was introduced, Regione Veneto has helped fund 642 development cooperation projects across the world, mainly in Central and South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and in Africa, for the improvement of social and health conditions, development of farming, promotion of the condition of women and children, education, professional training and improvement of services and infrastructure (Figure 18.2.2).
Also worth mentioning are the numerous projects carried out in association with some of the UN's major agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In particular, Regione Veneto is involved in projects within the UNDP's ART initiative (Articulating Territorial and Thematic Networks of Cooperation for Human Development), which aim to build a network that supports the development of territories with the participation of the UN, the governments and institutions of participating countries, as well as local community bodies and associations. This mechanism has proved to be particularly effective and has involved numerous players in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Veneto's regional administration participates in similar programmes in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
It is also involved in major coordination work with national institutions and international organisations in the field of humanitarian aid to populations hit by catastrophes and conflicts, with emergency measures geared towards providing medicine, equipment and necessaries.
The same areas of international cooperation also cover Veneto's human rights activities, which comprise cultural events, information, professional training, research and education. In addition to the annual plans implemented by the regional government, which have enabled the promotion of a range of activities in active citizenship, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, children's rights, non-discrimination and equal opportunities for all, a series of major cultural and symbolic events has also taken place, including support for the Peace Human Rights Archive and the region's participation in the Venice Foundation for Research on Peace as a founder member (Note 7).
In recent years, development cooperation projects have been carried out within specific EU programmes. This has not only provided access to major additional funding, but has enabled the creation of an active partnership network that encompasses regions, universities, as well as public and private bodies and authorities in Italy and abroad. There are two major projects that Regione Veneto is heading: Co.Ca.P. (Social Cohesion through the strengthening of production chains: development of permanent methods of collective actions in the regional systems of Mercosur countries) and Su.Pa. (Successful paths, supporting human and economic capital of migrants) (Note 8).
The regional administration is also a partner in a range of EU projects that involve promoting equal opportunities and development cooperation (Note 9). As regards working with countries in the Adriatic area, it is worth mentioning measures that aim to recoup, conserve and promote Veneto's cultural patrimony in Istria and Dalmatia (Note 10). These measures involve structured, long-term action for the conservation and protection of the extensive cultural, historical and artistic patrimony left in the area by the Serenissima Republic; work is conducted in synergy with public and private institutions, cultural associations, local associations from Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro, as well as with the numerous Italian communities in Istria and Dalmatia. Today, more than 500 projects covering a vast array of matters have been launched, 300 of which have been completed; they include studies and research into Veneto settlements in Istria and Dalmatia, the restoration of walls, fortifications, buildings, painted churches and sculptures that date back to the Serenissima, as well as the production of audio and visual materials, music and theatres events. One specific law has enabled the twinning of local authorities in Veneto, Istria and Dalmatia.
Regional Law LR no. 15/1994 has been integrated with an additional law from the regional budget 2008, which envisages the promotion and conservation of Veneto's historical, cultural, architectural and artistic patrimony in the Mediterranean area. Aims include promoting the whole of Veneto, both old and new, by recovering what was created in these areas in the past and also setting up relations at institutional level. This way, the region hopes to recover its history in the Mediterranean and to create a network of partner countries.
This has lead to a number of studies and publications on Venetian presence in the Mediterranean and measures to protect Veneto's architectural patrimony in Corfu.
As we can see, it has been an important decade for the development of the region's international relations. Regione Veneto has become a more active and consolidated player thanks to increased activities among Europe's regions, EU policies of interregional cooperation, implementation of legislation, growing globalisation of economies and major migratory flows.
The array of projects mentioned here must act as a foundation to promote Veneto's action in the world and to draw up models that enable its institutional activities to measure themselves with those of foreign regions in order to improve performance and strengthen the international relations of "System Veneto". The crowning moment of these policies will be the cross-border projection of the main fields of Veneto's competence in order to promote balanced economic, social and cultural growth within the region against an international backdrop of stability, security and sustainable development.