Brussels, 18/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the occasion of the political bureau of Caen, which was held on 11 February by invitation of Laurent Beauvais, President of the Region of Lower Normandy (France), the CPMR (Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe) undertook to make European solidarity the “leitmotif” of its reflections in 2011. As well as the debates to be carried out on this subject at its next political bureau, to be held in the Azores on 3 June, the CPMR plans to hold a seminar on the subject of European solidarity in the final quarter of this year in Brussels.
“Solidarity is at the root of the European political project”, says CPMR President, Jean-Yves Le Drian. “The EU's lack of competitiveness on the global stage has recently driven people to oppose solidarity and competitiveness, but the crisis has shifted the spotlight back to how independent European economies are, and European solidarity has suddenly reappeared as a pre-requisite for allowing each member state to improve its own situation”, he states in a press release. The CPMR will reflect on the possible forms European solidarity could take in the current situation, and on the place and role of the regions in this system of solidarity. “In a tight budgetary context, benefiting from European solidarity will mean reasonably putting something into it. The regions need to reflect on how they perceive European solidarity and what they themselves are prepared to put on the table in return”, Jean-Yves Le Drian concluded (http://www.crpm.org ). (L.C./transl.fl)