Brussels, 17/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European regions have set out ten recommendations for overcoming the crisis. The Assembly of European Regions (AER) formally presented these recommendations to European Budget Commissioner Januz Lewandowski after the third summit on the crisis and the regions, organised in Paris on 16 May.
Michèle Sabban, who is president of the association, explained that: “At a time of austerity and national decline, it is now the regions' turn to give fresh impetus and to remind States that the road to growth will only be found through solidarity between the regions”. She added that “the regions are of the right scale to create synergies between the various players able to re-launch investment: development, bank, investment fund, poles of competitiveness. The local and regional authorities must remain the preferred discussion partners of businesses as they have an acute knowledge of their regions and they can identify the sectors that have prospects for the future and can stimulate innovation”.
On the strength of this and the synergies, regions have taken up their commitment to overcome the crisis through ten key actions. On one hand, it is a question of targeting the economic sectors that are the most profitable for the regions - such as the green economy, e-health, the new silver economy, and the creative, cultural and tourist industries. To achieve this, a region-by-region diagnosis must be made including through audits proposed by the AER. It is of course necessary to count on young people, by ensuring they have training and mobility, but it is also necessary to count on business people. The regions therefore want to simplify the setting up of businesses and access to microcredit and to make citizens more aware of entrepreneurship.
Among their commitments, the regions also plan to ensure sustainable financing for the local and regional economies, supporting solidarity and the social economy, and especially via structural funds. It is a matter of social inclusion (gender equality, fight against discrimination) and of earning the trust of citizens and restoring the image of Europe in the eyes of Europe's citizens. (MD/transl.jl)