Brussels, 26/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - Informed about the content of a draft review of the EU budget by the European Commission (see EUROPE 10004), the chair of the EP's Regional Development Committee, Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), expressed concern about the Commission's ideas. In a letter to the other members of the EP's Development Committee, she states that the communication 'presents opinions on the Cohesion Policy that go against everything that we have heard from the President of the Commission over the last years, months and weeks over the role of the regions in European multi-level governance and the role of Cohesion Policy in mobilising European development potential.' Hubner, who used to be EU Regional Policy Commissioner, added that the draft texts 'aims at eliminating Objective 2 of the Cohesion Policy which embraces two-thirds of all European regions.' She explains that 'this approach would result in a European policy absent from 200 regions out of 271 and sixteen Member States out of twenty-seven.' 'Abandoning the regional dimension of Cohesion Policy not only goes against development reality but also against the principle of territorial cohesion, underpinned by the new treaty,' concluded Danuta Hübner.
The former Commissioner has written a similar letter to President Barroso. The planned EU Cohesion Policy reforms will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the EP's Regional Development Committee on 3 and 4 November 2009.
No reaction from the Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions, which works in close partnership with the European Commission on EU Cohesion Policy, states that it is not appropriate to comment publicly at this stage on a draft document still being prepared (and therefore not yet adopted) by the Commission. The CoR says it is closely following preparation of the ew Cohesion Policy and will express the views of regional and local representatives in good time.
The 'Association des Régions Françaises' (ARE) in France and the 'Assemblée des Régions d'Europe' (see EUROPE 10005) have expressed negative views on the Commission's budget plans (see EUROPE 10004). (G.B. trans fl)