The attitude I prefer. My preferred attitude to the new regional and cohesion policy to be proposed by the Commission on Wednesday is that voiced by the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (current president of the European Council) in an interview with the newspaper "Le Monde". Here are his answers to the two questions directly related to this policy. The first refers to the effects of this policy on his country: "I still remind my countrymen that Ireland would never have enjoyed all the foreign investment is has seen over the last fifteen years if we did not belong to the EU. The investment did not come here by chance, or because this little island in the Atlantic Ocean is a much better place than the rest of the world. We have doubled our gross domestic product in ten years because we are in Europe".
The second answer concerns his reaction to the forthcoming end to European regional aid to his country: "in a few years, Ireland will become a net contributor to the Community budget. We should be proud of this". This takes us away from certain ignoble calculations and attitudes folded in on themselves, which overlook not only the sense of solidarity and European mindedness, but also the medium and long-term interests of the Union as a whole, and therefore of all of us, thus also of the reluctant or cautious country. "The objective of regional policy? Getting out of it" are the true words spoken in jest by Michel Barnier, the Commissioner in charge of it. Bertie Ahern understood this.
Logic and consistency. Mr Barnier believes that the policy the Commission is proposing cannot be easily unravelled, because it is "logic and coherent". The Ministers may curtail its efficiency by reducing its financial base, but they would struggle to overturn its structure, which is the result of a three-year debate which has involved governments, regional authorities, members of parliament, and the economic and social powers that be. Everybody has had their say, and the Commission has taken note of what it has heard. The principle that could be defined as charitable ("let's help the poorest") has largely been left behind. Social and economic cohesion is perceived as a vital element of the "Lisbon strategy", which was completed by the Göteborg conclusions. This principle, of which I spoke in this column of 14 February, has been made concrete by a series of guidelines and choices:
1. Of the seven years in question (2007-2013), the policy of "cohesion for growth and employment" would have a budget of around 340 billion EUR, overtaking agricultural policy as the European policy with the largest kitty.
2. Support to regions lagging behind will remain the chief priority: 78% of the overall financial envelope will go towards this (Objective 1). The beneficiaries will largely be the new Member States (except, apparently, Cyprus and the cities of Prague and Bratislava), and the regions of the current EU in which income per inhabitant remains below 75% of the Community average despite the statistical revision resulting from enlargement. This Objective 1, including the specific "Cohesion Fund" instrument which will be reserved for two current Member States (Greece and Portugal, as Ireland comes out this year and Spain will probably do so in 2006) and the acceding countries, will have around 262 billion EUR.
3. Objective 1a concerns the regions of the current Union with an income per capita over 75% of the Community average, not because their situation has objectively improved but due to the statistical effect of enlargement (without this effect, they would still be below the 75% threshold). The Commission does not believe these regions should be abandoned. At the start of the period, they will have some 85% of the credit they would have had if they were still covered by Objective 1, and 65% by the end. As we can see, this is a generous treatment to be enjoyed mainly by regions in "net contributor" countries. According to the available statistics, 18 regions will benefit from this regime (including 4 in Germany, 4 in the UK, 4 in Spain, 2 in Italy, and 1 in Portugal), with a total of 19 million inhabitants. The total contribution will be 22 billion EUR. This list has not been definitively agreed, as the statistics up to 2003 are not yet available. The functioning of this Objective 1a was defined after long, in-depth discussions within the Commission, as there were several competing formulae.
4. New Objective 2 will cover the States and regions which will not be covered by Objective 1, but which will have restructuring needs to face, and which will have to make specific efforts to apply the Lisbon strategy. 18% of the overall available money will go to this objective, or around 60 billion EUR for the whole period. There will be no pre-established list of beneficiary regions or areas (those coming out of Objective 1 without the benefit of Objective 1a will, however, take priority); the choice of projects will be determined by geographic, natural, demographic and social criteria. The projects paid for must have properly targeted aims, related to innovation, perhaps, or to the accessibility of citizens to services of general economic interest.
5. The last plank, which will have around 4% of the total, will promote European territorial co-operation: this will follow on from Interreg, whose envelope will be roughly doubled compared to its current budget, to answer one of the Union's essential principles, which is to exceed national economic boundaries.
Priority to new Member States. It has been worked out that over the whole period, around half of the overall package will go to the fifteen current Member States, and the other half to the ten new Member States, which confirms that they will be the main beneficiaries of this policy, because their population corresponds to 27% of the total. The new Member States will be able to get up to 4% of their GDP from the Community budget, a percentage which- as is confirmed by the Union's history- could make a sizeable contribution of the economic and social development of the beneficiary country, especially for "infrastructures", which are essential in countries which are struggling to meet their costs at the moment.
Taking account of the wishes of all. I've been quite specific in describing the content of the planned policy, in order to accentuate one of its essential characteristics: the efforts of Michel Barnier and his colleagues in taking account of requests, considered justified and reasonable, made by all Member States and all those consulted in the three years of preparations. I am not ruling out the possibility that calculation may have its part in this effort, in smoothing the way for Council to approve a package in which each country, region and category will see the reflection of their own hopes and aspirations. But I do not believe that this was the essential point of the structure decided on. The fundamental motivation was to give birth to a policy which will genuinely be at the service of Europe, of a certain idea of Europe, involving the principle of overall solidarity taking the aspirations of all into account, and which will be positive for all (the financial transfers being just one element of this solidarity, as the new Member States must be aware). This reading of it is supported by the importance Michel Barnier places on the "Urban plus" programme, for example, which benefits cities which are often in the wealthiest areas of Europe, but which have their "pocket of poverty" too, and social problems which can be seriously worrying. The Urban programme has contributed to significant projects, some of which it launched itself; "Urban Plus" will have to go even further, from the point of view of money as well as in terms of co-operation between cities with similar problems; swapping experience and co-operating are an essential factor in resolving them.
Getting Europeans used to working together. Generally speaking, Michel Barnier can summarise his ambition in a slogan: "Getting more for the EU's money", not only in terms of training and research, but also in environmental protection, the prevention of natural disasters and, from a more directly political point of view, of getting Europeans used to working together. The new regional and cohesion policy will not be shaped by bureaucrats, but largely by the regions themselves, which will be partners rather than executors; a huge effort to simplify and decentralise has been planned to this end. This policy will be at the service of the objectives of Europe, which are currently represented by the implementation of the Lisbon strategy.
Against scepticism and resignation. I am aware that reality will not and cannot be as utopian in all points as I have described it. Even if all the Commission's recommendations are approved and implemented with the support of the European Parliament, there will be disappointments, as certain States or regions will not be able to implement the prospects opened up to them; some failure is inevitable, as experience proves. And there may be a touch of over-optimism or even naivety in Michel Barnier's presentation of his plan and his programme. But its impetus speaks volumes, and that's what Europe needs right now. In any case, I am so firmly convinced that the continuation and intensification of European integration are indispensable for the continent and good news for the whole world, that I will always favour a healthy dose of illusion- mine and other people's- over scepticism and resignation.
(FR)