Brussels, 15/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The increase in the budget planned for the “European Neighbourhood Instrument”, unveiled by the Commission on 7 December last, together with its cross-border cooperation programmes with neighbouring countries and the Russian Federation, are considered as “merit points” by cross-border and peripheral maritime regions in Europe. Nonetheless, the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR) and the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) would have preferred a new concrete regulation for territorial cooperation contained within this instrument in an effort to, “avoid costly delays and misunderstandings”.
The AEBR would also have liked to see, “more possibilities for cooperation between cross-border regions and neighbouring countries, including Russia, because there are sensitive border areas and certain key areas that require support, whilst guaranteeing co-funding at a national level in the long-term”, explained the president of the association, Karl-Heinz Lambertz. Jean-Yves Le Drian, the president of the CPMR and the Brittany region, also expressed a wish for a maritime basin approach to be implemented in total synergy with macro-regional approaches, as well as within the context of integrated EU maritime policy. (MD/transl.fl)