Brussels, 26/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe is for the continuation after 2006 of a policy of cohesion not limited to the poorest regions, by affirming that Objective 2 is an essential element for the regions "to take up the challenge of competitivity". The political office of the CPMR, meeting together on 16 and 17 May in Thessalonika, approved a document detailing its positions. In addition to the continuation of Objective 1 for regions whose GDP is lower than 75 % of the Community average, the CPMR defends for the other regions an Objective 2, "whose financial intensity would be proportional to the criteria of GDP and their degree of distance".
According to the political office, this new instrument is expected to pursue five priorities: - a society of knowledge (in particular infrastructures of high flow communications "essential to equip all areas with the bases of their competitivity"), - research and development and innovation, "which currently have the strongest territorial disparities in Europe"; - education and training; employment; - a policy of accessibility, for means of durable transport. The CPMR considers that eligibility to these thematic actions should, in particular, depend on the situation of the areas, for example, eligibility to infrastructures for regions difficult of access. It also recommends a territorial approach, with complementary measures for regions of "permanent constraint" (islands, mountains, low population), rural territories, zones depending on fishing and urban districts in crisis. It insists in addition on the maintenance of authorisation for State aid to regions in the Objective 1 regions, and the development for some Objective 2 regions: territories with structural constraints and declining rural populations, with a transitory cover for employment areas in industrial crisis. The CPMR calls for greater simplification, with a single fund for financing the two objectives, instead of the four current structural funds.
In addition, the political office "expressed reservations on the final version of the declaration presented at Leipzig (...) which grants the urban dimension a place likely to endanger the coherence of action at the regional level". During this conference organised by the Regional Committee, associations of cities successfully applied pressure for a greater role of cities in the next cohesion policy (EUROPE of May 7 p.13).