Brussels, 31/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The visit by Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn to the French overseas departments of Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique could not have come at a better moment, just a few weeks after publication of the Solbes report on the outermost regions (ORs). In his report, former European Commissioner Pedro Solbes Mira sets out measures for better integrating these regions (some over 9,000 kilometres from the European Union) into the internal market (see EUROPE 10472). Does the commissioner's current visit augur well for greater attention being paid to the problems confronting the ORs? Hahn began his visit in French Guiana on Monday 31 October, where he met President of the Region Rodolphe Alexandre. The trip will then move to Guadeloupe and Martinique where the commissioner will meet representatives of the local business and industry community and visit EU-funded projects. The visit will end on Friday 4 November, with the 17th Conference of Presidents of EU Outermost Regions. This will bring together delegations from the Azores, the Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, Guiana, Madeira, Reunion and Saint Martin, along with ministerial delegations from each of the three member states to which these regions belong (France, Spain and Portugal). It is in the interests of the ORs that the commissioner's visit provide fresh impetus from European policies for these regions so geographically distant from the European Union. (MD/transl.rt)