Brussels, 25/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - The second meeting of the European Commission's structured dialogue with the European and national associations of regional and local government was held on 24 February on the fringe of the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) under the chairmanship of Peter Straub. President Barroso presented the Commission's work programme for 2005 and its strategic objectives for 2005-2009. Discussions focused on the financial perspectives 2007-2013 and their impact on the reform of regional policy, mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy and ratification of the Constitution (EUROPE of 22 February, pp.7-8, and 25 February, p.10).
Speaking to the Assembly, President Barroso stressed that the Committee “represents a privileged channel of communication for restoring our relations with the public”. “Europe is not just built in Brussels”, he said, stressing that “European integration comes through citizens themselves, day after day. It must meet their aspirations”. Barroso announced the launching of a partnership between the various national, regional and local levels and civil society in which the CoR would be a key player. On the subject of territorial and social cohesion, he asked: “Do we want this to remain at the heart of the way in which the Union works, yes or no? Do we want to have the possibility of helping the most vulnerable regions? Do we want to help the disadvantaged categories, yes or no? This cannot be done without the necessary means hence the importance of defining adequate financial perspectives”.
The presidents of the European political groups and associations reacted favourably to Mr Barroso's speech. Isidoro Gottardo (EPP, Italy) raised the problem of “decoupling between Brussels and citizens, a fact that the Committee members live through daily at the level of their municipalities and regions”. Michel Delabarre (PES, France) restated the CoR's request to be “more involved in the pre-legislative and legislative phases, in concert with the EP. This is how Europe will move forward on the road to new governance”. Kent Johansson (ALDE, Sweden) believes the only way to measure the success of a policy is to see whether it has “allowed people to develop their potential in society by promoting this development and eliminating obstacles of a bureaucratic kind as well as poverty”.
During the debate, Wim Deetman (Eurocities) called on the Commission not to neglect the network of towns which makes 80% of the EU's GDP. Lambert Van Nistelrooij (Association of European Border Regions, AEBR) stressed the importance of giving adequate finance to cohesion policy: “a budget equivalent to 1% of EU GNP is not sufficient”, he said, like Peter Winter (German association for local communities) who felt that “1% does not correspond to any economic logic”. Alain Rousset (Assemblée des régions françaises and member of the CoR) was adamant that “State aid for regional purposes should not be brought into question, otherwise our industry will suffer”. “If one wants to keep up our competitiveness, we must know how to be pragmatic towards regional State aid”. Highly applauded, Claudio Martini (president of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions and a member of CoR) imagined Mr Barroso “the day after a Homeric” European Summit in June 2005: “You have slept little but, with the satisfaction of having accomplished your duty, you cannot resist the pleasure of inviting us to an exceptional second annual territorial dialogue meeting; You have managed to convince some recalcitrant States that a post-2006 policy is worth it, as it already implements the principles of the Constitution from the angle of participation by regions in the life of the EU or from that of regional cohesion”, he said. He went on to add: “You cannot resist the pleasure of sharing your satisfaction with us: the convergence regions have a full and active role in European and global competitiveness, the other EU territories are fully involved in the effort of competitiveness, the cohesion budget has been fixed at 0.45% of the gross national income, and your Competition Commissioner, NellyKroes, will carry out a more equitable review of the guidelines on State aid for regional purposes. Europe of competitiveness and sustainable development is on its way: to succeed, it has not forgotten that it should be fair, credible and be made up of the largest number”.
In his responses, President Barroso above all: 1) stressed the need to hinge the Lisbon strategy on competitiveness and financial resources: one euro spent at local level is often better used than one euro spent at national level. A great effort must be made so that spending is really better targeted; 2) anticipated that, after March, “we shall have a Lisbon strategy that is more dynamic, better targeted and balanced”; 3) and announced that, from the next Commission meeting, he would stress the need to take account of regional and local concerns in the various policies, and call on Commissioners to “maintain contact with local and regional authorities”.