Brussels, 31/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following the Forum for Outermost Europe, which focused on the new EU 2020 strategy, in Brussels, on 27-28 May (see EUROPE 10146), President of the Canary Island Government Paulino Riveiro highlighted the new role that Europe's most far-flung regions have to play “from the point of view of security... in controlling illegal immigration in their geographical setting, and as platforms for cooperation and development with neighbouring countries”. He called for more flexibility in managing European funds and greater support for traditional outermost region (OR) products and help in combating unemployment. He also called on the European Commission to gather the results of the forum into one document “as soon as possible”, so that they might serve as a basis for producing the new EU financial perspectives for the 2014-2020 period.
Riveiro acknowledged that the EU contribution had been fundamental to the progress of participants' respective areas, but, according to a press release from the Spanish Presidency, added that the problems of the ORs were “structural, not temporary”. Thus he called for: - structural funds for the outermost regions to be maintained; - compensation for the ORs for the loss of competitiveness resulting from EU trade agreements with third countries; - a special training and employment plan for the ORs, given their high unemployment rate of around 30%; - advanced infrastructure and research networks to be encouraged in these regions in the future; - the temporary nature of tax incentives to be lifted, to prevent “having to periodically re-negotiate them”.
Spanish Secretary of State for European Affairs Diego López Garrido confirmed that the Spanish Presidency would continue to work in the interests of the outermost regions within the new EU financial perspectives and in implementing the economic growth strategy, EU 2020, in order to ensure that they “continue to have a unique, central and strategic position” in EU policies.
Spanish Ambassador to the EU Carlos Bastarreche expressed his satisfaction that the meeting had “been a real success”, as one objective of his country's six-month term of office to hold a meeting of this sort “which would be the first of an institutionalised set of such meetings” had been achieved. (G.B./transl.rt)