Brussels, 15/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 July, the chairperson of the European Parliament regional development committee, Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), sent to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso a document setting out the official stance of the parliamentary committee on the future cohesion policy for post-2013. Danuta Hübner said she hoped the document would become the official European Parliament position on future cohesion policy that, she said, “we expect to be strengthened in the future”. The document will be put to the vote of the EP's first plenary session in October 2010 in the form of a resolution. It will also be forwarded by Hübner to the permanent president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, as well as to the Belgian prime minister and president-in-office of the EU Council Yves Leterme, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn, and Committee of the Regions President Mercedes Bresso. “The debate on the future regional policy has now entered its last lap. It began in 2007 under Portuguese EU Presidency”, Danuta Hübner pointed out, saying “it is important this work should continue”. The Commission is expected to put a proposal forward on this subject in November 2010.
The official stance of the regional development committee is mainly reflected in the following points:
(1) Cohesion policy has proved to be essential to the process of European integration. It is a policy with European added value, facilitating the pursuit of modernisation and sustainable growth as well as demonstrating European solidarity. In conformity with the spirit of the treaties, these characteristics require an EU-wide regional policy implemented throughout the entire territory of the Union and embracing all European regions.
(2) Cohesion policy implementation is indispensable for the success of this strategy, while always remaining an independent policy providing a framework for establishing strong synergies between all European policies.
(3) Any attempt to renationalise the policy has to be rejected. Furthermore, as the present financial framework has an important impact on regional development, it is necessary for the regional dimension to be fully considered in the proposed review of the EU budget and the future financial framework. A strong and well-financed EU regional policy is a condition sine qua non for achieving social, economic and territorial cohesion.
(4) In accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon, territorial cohesion implies a targeted approach to territorial development ensuring polycentric development, by creating synergies and avoiding the sectoral dispersion of regional policy resources. To that end, there must also be sufficient flexibility to accommodate regional specificities and support lagging regions in their efforts to overcome their socio-economic difficulties. The outermost regions, border regions, regions with specific geographical features and other regions facing specific development challenges must continue to benefit from specific provisions.
(5) Past experience, examples of best practice and successful past Community initiatives should permit the adoption of a more focused approach to the urban dimension of cohesion policy. Cities play a dynamic role in regional economic development giving a positive economic stimulus to the surrounding rural areas. Therefore, in the next programming period financial resources should be allocated for investments in urban as well as suburban projects. The application of an appropriate instrument should be considered in order to achieve these objectives.
(6) Multi-level governance is one of the key principles of cohesion policy and is fundamental to ensuring the quality of the decision-making process.
(7) The architecture of post-2013 cohesion policy should offer a simple, fair and transparent transition regime taking into account past experiences and the latest trends in the social and economic situation of the regions concerned, as well as enabling them to continue on their paths towards growth and development.
(8) The European Social Fund should remain an integral part of cohesion policy.
By way of conclusion, the parliamentary committee calls on the European Commission, the Council Presidency and the European Council to give due consideration to the points raised when discussing the future cohesion policy for post-2013. (G.B./transl.jl)