The situation in remote regions can be improved with better accessibility to transport and use of indicators other than gross domestic product (GDP). This was the conclusion reached by local and regional representatives at a meeting held on the Shetland Islands by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on Friday 9 September.
Representatives of the various decision-making levels, along with academics, stressed the need to improve access to remote regions such as the Shetland Islands. Members of the territorial Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy (COTER) are currently examining small-scale infrastructures in Europe and how they can be financed in the future. The CoR points out in a press release that most European and national funds go to the nine major corridors in the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The peripheral regions were also concerned about this in the past (see EUROPE 11410).
The use of new indicators to guide funding has been discussed on a number of occasions at the CoR, and also among MEPs at the European Parliament. Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu said she was open to proposals (see EUROPE 11574). The question was also addressed in June by the president of the CoR, Markku Markkula, with the vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, who also seemed receptive as part of the future of the Cohesion Policy (see EUROPE 11584). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)