Working Community of the Danube Regions - General Information

Key Facts

The foundation of the Working Community of the Danube Regions was laid in 1982 by the region of Lower Austria. The state of Lower Austria proposed creating a “Danube Region” as a discussion forum. After numerous cross-border preparatory meetings, the Working Community of the Danube Regions was formally established on 6 November 1989.

Today, it includes 43 regions from the Danube area of Europe. 41 of these regions are full members, while 2 are so-called “observers” (regions interested in membership).

Projects on various topics concerning the Danube Region are carried out in cross-border Working Groups.

Goals

• Promoting collaboration among the members
• Developing the Danube region in the interest of its inhabitants
• Furthering peaceful cooperation in Europe

Tasks

The Working Community of the Danube Regions sees itself as:

• A representative of the regions
• A driver of the Danube Region strategy
• A think-tank for Danube Region activities
• A network for stakeholders in the Danube Region 

Funding

• Each member covers its own costs
• No membership fees
• Funding proposals from the Working Groups for project approval 

General Secretariat

It is based in Lower Austria and is responsible for:

• Administrative preparation of meetings
• Coordination and documentation
• Moderation and networking 

Chairmanship

For 2026–2027, Odesa Oblast holds the chairmanship.

Responsibilities of the chairmanship:

• Chairing the Conference of Heads of Government
• Representing the Working Community externally
• Coordinating content

weiterführende Links

• Website of the Region of Bratislava
• Website of the Region of Trnava

Downloads

• Download: Geschichte der ARGE Donauländer (pdf, 0.2 MB)