Saint Malo, 26/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - MEP François Alfonsi (Greens/EFA, France), the rapporteur on macro-regional strategies, pointed out on Thursday 26 September that strategies of this kind meant the regions were no longer “marginalised” by states and could put themselves “at the heart of a vision for the future of the EU from natural basins (river, mountain and maritime)”.
He was speaking at the General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in Saint Malo. The future of macro-regional strategies, already in place in the Danube and Baltic Sea regions, was a subject for debate at the meeting. The Commission already has a mandate to develop a third strategy, for the Adriatic-Ionian region, and could take advantage of the lessons learned in previous strategies (set out in a report presented by the European Commission in July). While reform of cohesion policy is on the way to conclusion, Alfonsi stressed that the forthcoming planning periods must “seize” the tools that are the macro-regional strategies and provide appropriate funding. He regretted the lack of enthusiasm sometimes shown by the Council and the Commission (which fears a heavier workload). He therefore spelled it out clearly for the representatives of the regions that a macro-regional strategy “begins first and foremost with strong local desire” (our translation throughout). (MD/transl.fl)