Saint Malo, 27/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - The peripheral maritime regions say that the success of European policies in the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the EU will depend on the degree of confidence afforded them.
Just like the European Parliament, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) regrets the reduction in the European budget for the period from 2014 to 2020, expressing the view that the agreement reached the EU institutions (the Parliament still has to approve the MFF in plenary session, 21-24 October) lacks ambition.
In order to make best use of the resources available, the regions want greater involvement in setting up programmes. In the final declaration adopted by the CPMR at their 40th General Assembly in Saint Malo, France, on Friday 27 September, the association calls for consultation mechanisms to be put in place to make sure that useful instruments do not lose there added value if they are not tailored to the territories and their people. The CPMR urges the Commission and the Council to ensure that implementation of future regulations takes account of regional specificities. It points out that, when responsibility for management of European funding has been devolved to the regions (cohesion and rural development), the result has almost invariably been positive in terms of European added value and of adaptation to the real needs of the territories.
The association is pleased that the principle of multi-level governance has been enacted in the reform of cohesion policy, for instance through partnership agreements that derive directly from its territorial pact proposal. (MD/transl.fl)