Brussels, 19/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for regional policy, and MEPs were pleased with the first European Territorial Cooperation Day held on Friday 21 September. Hundreds of events will take place in this context but the European Parliament was already celebrating. Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid (EPP, France), rapporteur for this initiative, as well as for the future cross-border co-operation agenda organised the launch of this official European day on Tuesday18 September. She was delighted that cooperation between European regions was being proposed, and pointed out that, “this helps towards tackling the crisis and giving meaning to Europe again, as well as reinventing European integration into daily lives by coordinating the different advantages of the territories in an effort to meet common challenges”.
Hahn did not mince his words with regard to the budget, which is expected to be allocated after 2014 for cross-border co-operation and which is currently being discussed within the context of European budget. He said that increasing funding was proposed and parliament supports the strategy; nevertheless, this will be under pressure, although he added that this money is not a luxury. Danuta Maria Hübner, the president of the Parliamentary committee in charge of regional development, shares this point of view and considers that MEPs on her committee should all feel responsible and get the member states to understand the importance of this budget. She did, however, emphasise that the recent review of the European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) was good news and additional support for this territorial cooperation policy. (MD/trans/fl)