Brussels, 25/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - As part of the debate on the future of the cohesion policy for the regions of the European Union, the European Parliament organised a hearing on Wednesday on the situation for islands, mountain areas and thinly populated regions. Representatives of these regions and their associations came to plead for the continuation and reinforcement of European aid post 2006, but also for their specificities to be taken into account more by all European policies, particularly those relating to competition and transport.
Michel Bouvard, Chairman of the European Mountains Association, highlighted the additional costs entailed by any activity in mountain areas (building, forestry, company start-ups), and asked for public aid to be authorised in future to balance out this difference. Jean-Didier Hache, Secretary of the Islands Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe, stressed the problems of additional costs affecting islands. Vice-President of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, Michel Ravez, stressed the importance his organisation placed on the ratification and implementation of the Alpine Convention and its protocols. He called for radical measures to be adopted for regional development, tourism and transport. "European politics can and must play a key role", said Antonio Martinez de Bujanda, who spoke of the experience of the Rural Development Association from the Navarre, Cederna-Garalur, which carries out projects supported by European funds. The representative of the EU's regional office for European North Lapland, Seppo Heikkilä, pleaded for support to northern European regions to be maintained, stating that the region's natural and cultural resources, together with the population's qualifications, constitute a benefit to Europe as a whole.
MEP Georg Jarzembowski (EPP, Germany) countered these arguments. He expressed the view that these areas do not suffer from their structural disadvantages, as they benefit from better air quality, and much less pollution and crime than cities. He also stressed the fact that these regions are not the only ones in Europe that are thinly populated. The President of the European Mountains Association replied that these advantages are not enough, as "we cannot live from tourism all year round, and with 19th century jobs rather that 21st century ones". Gilles Savary (PES, France) said that territorial cohesion policy is essentially there for "equal opportunities between territories: it is not a question of the market, but public policy".
The European Commission is in favour of the next regional package (2006-2013), over and above the priority been granted to the regions of the new Member States, continuing to support projects in existing Member States, with cross-cutting (employment, information society…) and territorial (towns, mountains, extremely remote areas, islands…) priorities.