Brussels, 16/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - An internal workshop by the European Parliament's Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS) on the role of cohesion policy instruments in the recovery and growth of the European economy (see EUROPE 10213) closed with the conclusion drawn by the chairwoman of the regional development committee, Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland): Cohesion policy is the motor of growth and the wisest solution to the economic crisis. “Future cohesion policy should offer regions good practice models in a more robust way to enable those less competitive to open up to global competition without protective measures,” Hübner said in her capacity as the EPP Group's thematic leader in the CRIS committee on the report on the contribution of cohesion policy to economic recovery.
EPP deputy leader and CRIS committee coordinator Othmar Karas of Austria stressed that cohesion is the guarantee of harmonious territorial, economic and social development. “An effective cohesion policy will sustain a well-functioning internal market and the smooth circulation of people. Cohesion policy is a key element of our response to the financial and economic crisis and should be a cornerstone of the European exit strategy,” he added. He went on: “It is vital that any long-term EU investment strategy supported by the cohesion policy be linked to results in terms of competitiveness, innovation, job creation and green growth, improvements in economic cohesion at European level, and especially between old and new member states”.
“The regions have suffered from the crisis in very different ways, the least developed having suffered more than the others. The crisis must be used to get rid of structural weaknesses. We have to be able to overcome this crisis,” said Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn. “More than €3 billion should mean that we have at our disposal money that can be granted quickly to member states. There is also the cohesion fund which gives us the opportunity, in certain situations, to take action,” the commissioner pointed out. He said that there had to be investment to create an added value and remain flexible - “extend the concept of credit allocation, and concentrate on a number of EU 2020 strategy projects”. He went on to say that the various policies (protection of the environment, transport, social, etc) had to be brought together, operational programmes set up with the regions, interdisciplinary working groups created and application of the programmes monitored. The Commission had to take ownership of these projects. The principle of conditionality had to be brought in. To bring policies to reality, legislative measures and programmes would have to be implemented with member states, Hahn concluded.
Fabrizio Barca, Director General at the Italian Economy and Finance Ministry, and Special Adviser to the European Commission, pointed that an exit strategy from the economic and financial crisis and from its consequences called, in each member state, for institutional and structural reforms, higher growth and development, and improvement of public finances. Cohesion policy can contribute to these objectives by promoting the institutional and structural reforms by preventively conditioning transfers of funds to the design and implementation of these reforms; boosting social inclusion and growth through tailor-made intervention; and using a share of the funds to introduce sanctions linked to budgetary targets.
Professor Leo van den Berg of the European Institute for Comparative Urban Research, University of Rotterdam, Netherlands, expressed the view that cities are the real motors for the growth of the regions and nations. He said the challenges to be met by the cities and regions were the need for sustainable competitiveness, for a regional approach, for cross-border partnership and for new forms of cooperation.
Michael Schneider (Germany), President of the EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions, stated that “the EUROPE 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth stands at the heart of Europe's recovery plans and needs to be implemented in cooperation with Europe's local and regional authorities. With its decentralised approach and built-in system of multi-level governance, cohesion policy must be considered an important financial instrument for both recovering from the crisis and ensuring continued territorial development and growth”. (G.B./trnsl.rt)