Brussels, 06/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner said on Monday 6 October that she was hopeful that the EU would be “reasonably generous” with regard to the future budget to be allocated to regional policy for the next financial framework period beginning on 2014. The current financial crisis had shown the extent to which the EU needed “more integration, more common policy,” she said. She noted, however, that the debate on the future of regional policy was only beginning. “Our philosophy,” she said, “is first to know what our strategic policy vision is and then to decide how much investment we need for this policy to be implemented successfully”. Hübner also presented the Green Paper on territorial cohesion adopted the same day by the European Commission (“Turning territorial diversity into the strength of Europe”). Speaking at the 6th “Open days”, the European week of regions and cities (organised by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions from 6-9 October), she said she hoped that a European strategy would be put in place for the Danube Basin.
Why should there be investment in the territorial dimension of European integration? According to Hübner, territorial cohesion is a “model” to be followed for the creation of jobs. “Territorial cohesion has to be taken seriously. It is what will allow us to improve the competitiveness of our regions and improve the quality of the environment,” she stated. She pointed out, too, that the pattern of settlement in Europe is unique. There are some 5,000 small cities and almost 1,000 large cities, each centres of economic, social and cultural activity. This relative urban density has, however, few very large cities. Only 7% of the total EU population live in cities of over five million inhabitants, compared with 25% in the United States, and only five EU cities feature on the list of the world's 100 largest cities. Taking account of the territorial dimension can help Europe maintain a balance between urbanism and preservation of rural areas, Hübner added.
She set out the ideas contained in the Green Paper so that territorial cohesion can work properly: - reduce the range of population density in cities; - connect regions and overcome the problems of distance: in the farthermost regions, on average 40% of the population lives more than half an hour by car from a hospital and more than one hour from a university: the potential of information and communication technologies to provide access to health care and education (telemedicine, distance learning) can still be developed; - overcome administrative obstacles: local authorities have to work together, particularly on environmental issues (climate change, flooding, etc). The Green Paper opens the way for a consultation exercise on territorial cohesion, with questions such as: Is it necessary to have new legislative instruments and management tools to facilitate cooperation, including in external border regions? How can coordination between territorial and sectoral policies be improved? The Commission will report on the debate at the end of spring 2009. (L.C./transl.rt)