Brussels, 21/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) sent a letter on Wednesday 21 September to the permanent representatives of the 27 member states to the EU, calling on them to support the European Commission's proposals on the next multiannual financial framework (2014-2020), which were presented in June.
CPMR President Yves Le Drian, comfortable with the €140 billion proposed by the Commission for the EU's 2012-2020 budget, says he is concerned that eight member states want to reduce the financial allocations put forward by the Commission. In the light of serious efforts currently being made to consolidate national finances, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom signed a statement on 12 September in which they said the new framework was “too high” and argued that it “should not lead to an increase in national contributions to the EU budget” (see EUROPE 10450).
The CPMR rejects their arguments: “the consolidation of states' public finances through budget savings is now an absolute priority, but while it is thus appropriate for the European budget to remain stable, there is no reason it should be subject to the same programme of austerity as national budgets”. The CPMR fears that the move by the eight states will lead to a reduction in the funding of cohesion policy and, so, in what is allocated to the regions. For the peripheral maritime regions, the Commission proposal “represents a new cause for hope, so we can make the vital investments that our people and businesses need, to ensure their well-being and development, in all areas”. The CPMR urges support for the Commission's budgetary proposal because the future of the European economy depends on it. “Europe will only be able to emerge from the serious crisis in which it finds itself if it plays the card of solidarity by rejecting the re-nationalisation of policies and preventing countries from withdrawing into self-interest”, says the letter to COREPER (committee of the permanent representatives of the member states to the EU). (MD/transl.rt)