At the conference of presidents of the EU’s outermost regions on Tuesday 21 January, MEPs and representatives of the EU institutions called for support for these most remote regions to continue after 2024.
“The European Parliament will fight for the ORs”, said the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, referring to the forthcoming negotiations between EU institutions on the EU’s post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). We need to ensure that future programmes support transformation projects to promote innovation and competitiveness, she stressed.
“We have a responsibility to support their development. So, it will also be my role as President of the European Council to ensure that all nine outermost regions are fully recognised in our Cohesion Policy, in our Competitiveness Compass, in our financial solutions and in our sustainable development”, declared the President of the European Council, António Costa, in his speech (https://aeur.eu/f/f5u ). He also stressed the need to ensure that the European Union maintains “a stable strategic vision based on territorial cohesion and integrated economies, to benefit all our citizens, all our regions”.
These regions require “specific measures in terms of funding legislation and Community programmes. All this reflects the spirit of the Treaties, and that is precisely what the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament are all trying to achieve together”, summarised Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for Cohesion.
Mr Fitto stated that cohesion policy and all EU policies “must maintain a territory-based approach”. “We must rise to the challenges facing these regions”, insisted the Commissioner.
A shared vision. As coordinator within the Commission of various policies (agriculture, fisheries, transport), Mr Fitto committed to “putting in place a common vision for the ORs in the context of all these policies”. For example, food self-sufficiency and the very high cost of living represent huge challenges facing these regions. According to the Vice-President, this will have to be taken into account in the future vision for agriculture, to be presented by the Commission in mid-February. On the subject of fisheries, Mr Fitto said he understood the urgent need to modernise the fishing fleets of the outermost regions. “We need to ensure the survival of this sector. State aid for this purpose is essential, provided that the conditions laid down are met”, he pointed out. In conclusion, the Commissioner stated that the Commission would continue to “support the ORs with all the instruments at its disposal”.
A strong Cohesion Policy. Huguette Bello, President of the Regional Council of La Réunion and President of the Conference of Presidents of the outermost regions, called for a debate on “the right place for Cohesion Policy” in the next MFF and on taking greater account of Article 349 of the Treaty in EU policies (see EUROPE 13551/6). Article 349 allows the EU Council to adopt specific measures to adapt certain provisions of Union law and policies to the particular characteristics and constraints of these regions.
At the end of the debate, Ms Bello advocated a strong Cohesion Policy for the period 2028-2034, with a strong budget, i.e. at least equivalent to the current budget (2021-2027). She called as well for the outermost regions to be fully integrated into the future European plan for affordable housing and the new European strategy to combat poverty. She also referred to the future ‘European Oceans Pact’, which she said should take account of the contribution of the outermost regions to the EU’s maritime dimension.
Younous Omarjee (The Left, French), Vice-President of the European Parliament stressed that Article 349 of the Treaty was “our main shield and spearhead” for achieving further progress. There are, with no doubt, possibilities for making “even better” use of this article of the Treaty in policies other than cohesion policy, added Younous Omarjee.
François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, French) claimed that EU decisions were often ill-adapted to the living conditions in these regions and denounced the fact that EU funds, for example those intended for Mayotte, were under- or not used. Catarina Martins (The Left, Portuguese) criticised reform ideas aimed at concentrating the management of funds under Cohesion Policy.
Link to the event: https://aeur.eu/f/f5i (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)