Brussels, 29/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting with representatives of the outermost regions (OR) on Friday 29 April, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said he was open to the idea of a new report on the outermost regions in 2017.
To date, regional policy for OR, which covers the regions of La Réunion, Mayotte, Guyane, Saint-Martin, Martinique and Guadeloupe and the regions of Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands, is governed by a 2012 communication entitled 'Les régions ultrapériphériques de l'Union européenne: vers un partenariat pour une croissance intelligente, durable et inclusive'; (the outermost regions of the European Union - towards a partnership for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth). The communication says that a report on implementation of measures is foreseen at the end of 2017.
A source close to the question says that what the outermost regions want is not a review, but a new communication. The regions want to introduce a number of points, like the obligation to carry out impact assessments when negotiating free trade partnerships with non-EU countries, and exempting the outermost regions for taxes on emissions for aviation. Spokesperson for regional policy, Jakub Adamowicz said the regions would make their case and a communication could be considered in 2017.
To this end, according to the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, the Commission president asked the OR to submit a joint report by September on the impact of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP).
The OR were reassured on two other points. Firstly, the rumours of the upcoming scrapping of the OR unit at the Regional Policy Directorate General were scotched, and secondly, non-Francophone regions are to remain in the same unit, explained a source.
Earlier in the month, Juncker met with the regional governor of Attica and the secretary general of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in order to discuss issues relating to flows of immigrants. Here, too, the regional stakeholders felt the discussions had been fruitful (see EUROPE 11531). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)