Brussels, 20/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is not insensitive to all that the outermost regions (ORs) have to offer. On Wednesday 20 June it published a communication on how best to use the assets of the ORs to enable these European regions scattered across the globe to modernise their economies, focusing more on cutting-edge sectors. These isolated regions must also be more closely integrated into the single market, while at the same time strengthening their links to neighbouring non-EU countries. “These regions are assets for the EU”, said Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn, adding: “Our aim is to help the OR become more self-reliant, economically more robust”.
New strategy, new sectors. The communication, “The outermost regions of the European Union: towards a partnership for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, proposes a renewed strategy for the four million European citizens living in the eight outermost regions, comprising two archipelagos (the Azores and the Canary Islands), two island groups (Madeira and Guadeloupe), three individual islands (Reunion, Martinique and St Martin) and one mainland region (French Guiana). The communication provides proposals allowing these regions to overcome the constraints of their distance from the continent of Europe. It encourages diversification, emphasising economic sectors other than the traditional trio of fishing, agriculture and tourism, and in particular promoting entrepreneurship. The ORs should be able to take advantage and their natural resources and put them to best use in the areas of research, pharmacology, renewable energy and space. Thus, they will be able to turn things around so that their location is no longer seen as a constraint but as an asset for research into health, the climate or astrophysics.
Agenda 2020. All of the above areas form part of the EU 2020 strategy and are all areas which the ORs can use to advantage. “The renewed strategy set out here outlines opportunities for all, but each region will need to design its own path to greater prosperity, according to its specific characteristics”, Hahn said. Each OR will have to draft an action plan, with targets and milestones, with its national government setting out how it intends to implement the 2020 agenda taking account of its own individual situation.
Commission measures. The Commission proposes concrete measures in order to increase competitiveness through investment and innovation, and reduce the isolation of the ORs with support for transport, energy and ICT links. There will also be measures to create stronger relationships in trade and other activities with their geographical neighbourhoods. The Commission will also increase efforts to improve skills, provide better access to healthcare and reduce poverty. The Commission will review implementation of each of the proposed measures by 2017. (MD/transl.rt)