Brussels, 08/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 5 October, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) closed their general assembly by adopting a declaration in which they call on European decision-makers to not reduce the funding proposed by the European Commission for cohesion policy for the 2014-2020 period. They also called for the continued development of macro-regional strategies. The CPMR is urging the European Parliament and member states to adopt the Commission proposed budget in favour of integrated maritime policy (€432 million over seven years).
The European peripheral maritime regions meeting in Bialystok (Poland) at the beginning of October said that negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for 2014 are taking, “an extremely worrying turn”. Some countries are calling for a reduction in the European budget for the 2014-2020 period. The CPMR is calling on member states and the European Parliament to support the Commission proposals on the amount of funding for post-2013 cohesion policy. The presidents of the maritime regions therefore share the opinion of the “friends of cohesion” countries that met up on Friday 5 October in Bratislava (see other article).
They are highly critical of the temptation to reduce the budget under the pretext of making short-term savings that would compromise long-term investment. They are encouraging European leaders to pursue the goal of reforming the EU's own resources and insist that integrated maritime and cohesion policies are spared any possible budgetary cuts.
In the context of legislative proposals on cohesion, the CPMR warns against greater importance being placed on macro-economic conditions and the potential risks that these would have for the regions. Its member regions are demanding that they are not deprived of the necessary support for transition regions or even those that are sometimes debatably described as “more developed”. The CPMR is also critical of the sluggishness of cohesion policy negotiations, which creates problems for the management authorities that have to prepare operational programmes well in advance of the beginning of the programming period.
In connection with other European policies, the presidents of the peripheral and maritime regions suggest a number of ways in which decision-makers could boost and provide a framework to the development of macro-regional strategies. They say that a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should not be a one-size-fits-all but one that is flexible with appropriate funding for rural development. With regard to connecting up peripheral maritime regions, the CPMR calls on its region members to adopt the approaches necessary to ensure that the future trans-European transport network (and priority corridors) take into account their peripheral and island characteristics. Island regions will have their own conference at the beginning of November, on the eve of the Informal Cohesion Council, in Cyprus. (MD/trans.fl)