Peter Balazs calls for effective cohesion policy at European level to be maintained

Brussels, 15/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - "It remains essential to maintain an effective cohesion policy at European level to promote modernisation and faster growth in the less-developed regions of the EU in particular, and to bring more people into production employment across the Union as a whole": this was the message Commissioner Peter Balazs delivered to the European Economic and Social Committee's specialised section for EMU and social and economic cohesion, on 8 June.

In view of the opinion the EESC is currently drawing up on the Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, for which the rapporteur will by the Portuguese business leader Paulo Barros Vale, Peter Balazs (who works closely with the Commissioner in charge of Regional Policy, Jacques Barrot), underlined that: -the cohesion policy is "one of the most tangible and visible instruments" the Union has: "it is an essential tool for tackling the Lisbon-Gothenburg challenge and for consolidating the European social market model"; -the proposed financial perspectives for 2007-2013 presented by the Commission last February, which is based on an average expenditure of 1.14% of GDP for this period, is "credible and achievable". According to an EESC press release, Mr Balazs added that "a budget equivalent to 1% of GDP, as requested by some Member States, is not enough if we are to finance an enlarged Union of 27 Member States", and that "more effort is needed" to achieve the objectives of the Lisbon and Gothenburg strategies. Structural funds could contribute and provide additional means to achieve these objectives, continued Peter Balazs. He added that "the open method of co-ordination, which was developed in Lisbon, is not enough". The Commissioner believes that greater involvement of local and regional players in the planning and implementation of the cohesion policy is not just an issue of good regional governance, but also of economic efficiency. He continued that "global grants will be further consolidated and public-private partnerships encouraged, as requested in the EESC opinion".