Brussels, 26/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 25 October, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) welcomed the central role given to cohesion policy in the European Commission's proposals on review of the EU budget. As earlier highlighted by the CPMR, and reiterated in a press release, cohesion policy “will be one of the main instruments for implementing the objectives of the EUROPE 2020 strategy, and in this respect the budget needs to deliver on challenges”.
The new CPMR president, Jean-Yves Le Drian (who is also President of the Regional Council of Brittany), particularly welcomes the Commission's proposal to introduce development and investment partnership contracts between the Commission and member states, which reflect the involvement of partners at national and regional level. “The European Commission has embraced the idea of a territorial pact that the CPMR has been promoting since 2008 - a political contractual agreement between all partners, from the EU down to the regional authorities. This type of pact would help to ensure the success of EU policies, especially cohesion policy, within and together with all of the territories. Of course, we will be keeping a close eye on how regions will effectively be involved in defining and implementing these contracts”, Le Drian points out.
The CPMR nonetheless regrets the lack of any reference to one of the Union's major objectives, namely territorial cohesion. “All EU policies must contribute coherently towards achieving this objective, not just cohesion policy”, Le Drian asserts. The CPMR will be paying special attention to the contribution of the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the framework of cohesion policy, with a view to achieving inclusive growth, he says.
The CPMR is, moreover, pleased with the importance given in the Commission document to employment issues, training and social inclusion and the mention of cohesion policy as the guarantee that such issues will be addressed in the right way.
The CPMR will soon be presenting a series of proposals for an “ambitious and realistic budget that takes full account of the territorial diversity of Europe”, Jean-Yves Le Drian concludes. (L.C./transl.jl)