MEPs have given overwhelming support (505 votes for, 75 against, 10 abstentions) to the own-initiative report submitted by Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL France) on Thursday 6 July. This seeks to guarantee the effective application of article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and focuses on the derogated status of the outermost regions (OR).
In response to EUROPE, the rapporteur welcomed the massive vote in favour of his report, which he said would send out a strong message to the European Commission in support of the outermost regions despite the fact that the Commission was currently drawing up a strategy for the outermost regions unveiled last October (see EUROPE 11806). In a reference to the recent reflection paper on the future of the EU’s finances, he said that he hoped that, “whatever the prevailing post-2020 scenario, it will be necessary to protect the interests of the outermost regions”. He also welcomed a convergence of views between Parliament and Commission on the question of the outermost regions.
The content of the own-initiative report has not fundamentally changed with regard to the vote at the regional development committee (REGI) last May (see EUROPE 11799). The aim of the first report is to ensure respect for article 349 of the TFEU, which recognises the necessity of derogated treatment for the ORs due to their remote distance from the Union, the insularity of some of them, their lack of surface area, hilliness, climate or even the low diversity level of their production. This recognised status is necessary as part of the trade agreements with third countries. In this regard, MEPs are calling on the European Commission to apply the ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of 15 December 2015 (C-132/14 and C-136/14).
In this perspective, MEPs are calling on the Commission to put forward an action plan, with, if necessary, legislative initiatives for the ORs in full application of article 349 of the TFEU and in close collaboration with the ORs. They are also calling for a specific policy for the ORs to help support innovation and investment by facilitating access to European horizontal programmes (Horizon 2020, Connecting Europe Facility, etc.). They also support strengthening the Programme of Options Specifically Relating to Remoteness and Insularity, the (POSEI), a program that seeks to support the agricultural sector in the ORs.
Both Parliament's Presidency and Commission are more in favour of the ORs. One parliamentary source close to the dossier explained to EUROPE that the own initiative report had been classified as strategic by the Conference of Presidents. This source also informed us that the Parliament's new President, Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy), was much more attuned to these concerns than his predecessor, Martin Schulz (S&D, Germany). The European Commission, particularly the cabinet of the Presidency, will also be more sensitive with regard to questions affecting the outermost regions.
British ambush. The text, however, provoked robust opposition from the British delegation in both the ECR and EFDD groups. This is very likely to be due to a very liberal revision of the single market, which by its very nature, is opposed to derogated statuses, explained another parliamentary source. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)