Brussels, 13/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - During its meeting in Augustow (Poland) on 8 June, the Conference of the Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) gave its opinion on the Green Paper on maritime policy. It recommends in substance that the regional level be retained as the basic level on which to build a maritime policy.
With this in mind, the CPMR suggests that Objective 3 (European regional cooperation) of cohesion policy for the period 2007-2013 should be used as an “incubator for future maritime cooperation”. As far as the Motorways of the Sea are concerned, the CPMR suggests greater attention be paid to public financial support, which could encourage the development of new maritime links wherever their profitability is not automatically assured. For example, state subsidies would be used in regions where overland transport competition is fierce, and where infrastructures are very developed to the detriment of the maritime sector. Other means of financing could come from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) as a complement to the funding currently provided in the context of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) and the Marco Polo programme (a programme promoting intermodal transport), or the future coastal fund for transport. (aby)