On the afternoon of Tuesday 14 September, MEPs adopted by a large majority (614 votes in favour, 20 against, 59 abstentions) the own-initiative report tabled by Stéphane Bijoux (Renew Europe, France) in which the European Commission is asked to present a new European strategy to help the outermost regions face the new challenges of the 21st century.
“I am calling for a new European strategy for the outermost regions (ORs)”, the MEP had said the day before to the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira. “We urgently need a new, proactive and effective European commitment”. The strategy developed by MEPs is structured around three axes - “protect, develop, enhance” - he explained.
MEPs therefore call on the European Commission to “co-construct” a new strategy for and with the ORs, accompanied by a precise action plan involving the main stakeholders and national, regional and local authorities.
The report, which has not been amended, calls for a systematisation of the “European OR reflex”. MEPs call for the creation of a separate directorate dedicated to the ORs in the European Commission’s DG REGIO, which would be linked to the other directorates-general, again with a view to ensuring that the issue of the ORs is dealt with across the board.
In addition, they call for the creation of a permanent OR rapporteur post to strengthen the European Parliament’s oversight of the implementation of Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU in European policies. They call for the ORs to be better integrated into the discussions on the future of Europe through the Conference of Presidents of the ORs.
In more detail, the report sets out a series of thematic points requiring enhanced European and national action, notably in : - health (the ORs suffered particularly from the pandemic because of their fragile health systems); - support for young people (whose unemployment rate is particularly high); - the integration of the ORs into the ERASMUS+ programme; - support for agriculture and the green economy ; - fisheries policy and the blue economy ; - sustainable tourism ; - protection of the environment and biodiversity and energy transition; - the circular economy; - culture.
The European Parliament also suggests a competition policy adapted to the specificities of the ORs and a better transport policy allowing for a real opening up. Finally, it calls for an adaptation of the digital and spatial policy to take better account of the ORs.
Commissioner Ferreira welcomed the report in the plenary debate. She assured listeners that the European Commission, which is preparing a new strategic approach, would pay full attention to the many positions of the European Parliament.
In July, the European Commission opened a public consultation to feed into its plan to renew the EU’s strategic approach for the ORs, which should be presented in 2022 (see EUROPE 12758/24). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)