Brussels, 17/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Speaking on 16 June at the Committee of the Regions (CoR) plenary session, Regional Policy Commissioner Jacques Barrot asked the following question to launch proceedings: "Should we continue with a strong and credible Cohesion Policy to give Great Europe the resources for dynamic growth with plenty of jobs that is fundamentally sustainable, or do we want to reduce the policy to simple charity?" The Commissioner hammered home that more than any other EU policy, the Cohesion Policy is in citizens' eyes the manifestation of our ability to act together. The percentage of people abstaining from the last European elections shows us we have to increase our efforts to get people properly involved in the European project, he said. After recalling the three priorities of the new Cohesion Policy for 2007-2013 (convergence, regional competitiveness and employment, and European territorial cooperation), Jacques Barrot said the Commission would resist pressure from some Member States to renationalise the policy. On the CoR's contribution to the debate on the future of the policy, Jacques Barrot said the opinion by Michael Schneider (EPP, Germany) and Vito d'Ambrosio (PES, Italy) on the Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, was 'valuable support' for the Commission's policy. The opinion also expressed concerns about how the Cohesion Policy meshes with the regional state aid scheme (see EUROPE of 12 June, p.16). Barrot said he had met Competition Commissioner Mario Monti on Wednesday "to decide together how they would work on this dossier and arrange convergence" between state aid and Structural Funds policies. Describing on the next stages, Barrot said the Commission would adopt its package of legislation on the Cohesion Policy on 14 July. Following study by the Council and the EP, the final decision on the package should be taken in 2005 at the latest, explained Jacques Barrot. This way, negotiations could start on proposals during 2006 and they could start to be implemented on 1 January 2007.
During the debate, the former CoR President and Brussels transport and public works minister Jos Chabert (EPP, Belgium) said that the Commission's proposal (0.41% of GDP for the Cohesion Policy) was balanced and realistic. Countering this, the Mayor of Dunkerque Michel Delebarre (PES, France) said that the budget proposed by the Commission, based on an average of 1.4% of the EU's GNP, should be the bare minimum and any reduction would be a catastrophe for policies. Delebarre expressed concerns about the Urban programme which had almost been challenged although it is vital for our regions. British Liberal Councillor for the City of Liverpool Flo Clucas said that the ceiling of 1% of the budget called for by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria would inevitably lead to the failure of the future Cohesion Policy. In reaction to the debate, Jacques Barrot urged the regions of Europe to not hold back in making known the importance they attach to regional policy. We cannot hope to see Europe competitive overall without involving the regions, said the Commissioner, highlighting the importance of territorial cohesion.
Following the debate, the CoR adopted the opinion by Michael Schneider and Vito d'Ambrosio supporting the Third Report on Social and Economic Cohesion (adopted by the European Commission on 18 February, see EUROPE of 19 February, pages 7 and 8), making a series of recommendations: - ensuring greater flexibility in determining which regions are eligible for state aid; - making local and regional authorities responsible for identifying and implementing Cohesion Policy measures; - clearly defining criteria for providing aid for cities; and - providing greater financial means to people living in rural areas. The opinion calls for regions suffering from the statistical effect (regions coming under the 'traditional' Objective 1 which would still have been covered by Objective 1 following 2006 if there had not been a lowering of the EU average GDP per inhabitant following enlargement), in other words for 17 regions with a total of 19 million inhabitants to remain eligible for aid in the future.