Brussels, 08/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Confederation of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is getting active on behalf of the regions in transition. It should be noted, with respect to the article which appeared in EUROPE 10703 on Friday 5 October, that the peripheral and maritime regions have expressed their concerns on the subject of allocations for the regions in transition, brought in by the recent cohesion package. There are not many countries in favour, and in the process of the negotiations on the financial framework, these regions in transition could well be scrapped. In the view of Jean-Yves Le Drian, the president of the CEMR and French Defence Minister and regional adviser for Brittany, the “categories of more developed or transition regions should not be deprived of Community resources to face up to the crisis”. On behalf of DG Budget, Hervé Jouanjean acknowledged that “there is a debate which has started and which, I believe, will lead us to the level of the Heads of State and Government”. He remained staunchly optimistic, stating that “there are options for it to work. The decision will be taken very late, when there is arbitration to be carried out”. (LC/transl.fl)