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Thank you, Mr President, and thank you to each and everyone of you, ladies and gentlemen of the European Parliament, for the contribution you have made to this debate, although it is so late in the day. I think it extremely important for the European Union as a whole, quite apart from the obvious interest it has for every man and every woman resident in our seven outermost regions.
Just how, ladies and gentlemen, is the Commission to implement this approach? Generally speaking, I can inform you that work is proceeding normally. In terms of drawing up the necessary proposals, the Commission is, obviously, working in collaboration with the Member States and regions concerned. Although this approach and this collaborative work are constructive, we have nonetheless occasionally had to wait, and in some instances we are still waiting, for the detailed requests, and indeed the additional information required in order to adopt a position and draw up our own proposals. In Feira, we reported back on the progress of work and we shall, of course, do the same at the European Council in Nice. Mrs Sudre’s report mentions several of these files, and I would like to give you the actual details of the current state of progress.
In the field of agriculture, we are preparing the reform of the implementing regulations for measures under the POSEI programmes. Our objective is, as you advocate, to improve Community support for production as well as for supply. This is the follow-up to extensive consultation with the States and regions concerned. We are working to ensure that these proposals can be presented this autumn.
On the subject of agriculture, permit me to address the two Members of Parliament who represent in this House a region which I have learnt to know and love, the Azores, as that is where I made my first official visit as a Commissioner. Mr Costa Neves and Mr Casaca, you mentioned the traditional area of production in your region, milk production. I have understood the special issue of milk quotas in the Azores. I would like to tell you frankly that when we received notification of this current problem it was already too late to serve any useful purpose. It was not therefore included in the programme presented by the Commission in March. The Commission is nonetheless aware of this problem for the Azores, and I can confirm, having seen it myself, that milk is virtually the only form of production there. It is not, however, possible to increase the quote or to exempt the Azores from paying additional levies for exceeding these quotas. Your country, Portugal, has asked the Commission to look into this matter in the light of Article 299(2). The inquiry by our departments has not, as yet, been concluded. That is all I had to say on this topical problem which you both, quite legitimately, pointed out.
In the field of the common fisheries policy, as Mrs Attwooll mentioned, the main initiatives will instead come during the next year. I wish to point out, nonetheless, that there is currently an extensive discussion project in progress. As for the revival of the diversification of the economy, we have made progress in a number of key areas. In July, the Commission adopted an important decision on the modification of the guidelines on state aid for regional purposes, it is now possible to authorise aid to compensate the costs due to the conditions of the outermost regions. This is a significant point, and a positive one, even if this aid is not degressive or time-limited. I feel that this is a proper response to a demand often expressed by all these regions.
Please allow me now to say a word or two as the Commissioner in charge of a significant part of the Structural Funds through regional policy. They play a key role. The amount allocated under Objective 1 for the outermost regions is, as you know, ladies and gentlemen, being increased for this new period, 2000-2006, to EUR 8.077 billion. This is an increase of 70% over the previous period and, quite frankly, Mr Fruteau, since you were the one hoping and praying for practical action, here is one such. I know it is not the only one you were expecting, the only one you need, but here is at least one action, and one which we shall, moreover, have to justify to the European Parliament and to everyone with an interest in regional development.
After a 70% increase, with EUR 8 billion, we shall have to ensure that we use the money well, and that is a challenge which is not as easy as it sounds, use it effectively for the benefit, and in the service, the people, local projects, the citizens, economic, social and human development, local democracy, use it taking into account the new regulation of the Structural Funds, i.e. in a disciplined and transparent way, ensuring genuine partnership with all those that can take part in this good management, and, naturally, respecting time limits.
This regulation on time limits, which is very strict since the general regulation following Berlin, is, of course, as applicable here as it is everywhere. Mr Markov, in all sincerity, when I quote figures, it is quite clear that we are a long way from the reduction you seemed to fear earlier. I fully understand that when you referred to the future prospects related to enlargement – and I shall come to this later – you were referring not only to the situation for the outermost regions but also for the Objective 1 regions. In all sincerity, right now and for the seven-year period which is just beginning, 2000-2006, we are a long way from any sort of reduction.
This significant and sizeable but necessary amount, which is justified on the grounds of the state of economic development and the unemployment-related problems in these regions, will furthermore be padded out with appropriations from the four Community initiatives, Urban, Leader, Interreg and Equal. These considerable amounts, ladies and gentlemen, are not just the expression of our solidarity with these regions, out of fairness – I would reiterate this as it is something I believe – but are also the recognition of the key role they can and must play as outposts on – to use your own expression, Minister – the active frontiers of the European Union in the regions where they are located.
Moreover, in the next few days, I shall have the opportunity to sign, on behalf of the Commission, several regional programmes which are, or are going to be, definitively approved in the coming days: the Single Programming Document for Réunion, in the form of written procedures which have been all but completed, the SPDs for three other French overseas departments – Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana. As you know, the SPDs for Madeira and the Azores, were signed on 28 July. The only one remaining is the SPD for the Canaries which is currently being negotiated. That is what I have to report concerning the practical implementation of regional policy programming and the considerable funds associated to these.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Commission is moreover preparing initiatives to amend some of the terms regulating the Structural Funds with a view to making them yet more effective with regard to the outermost regions by making it easier to harness Community aid for the economic operators. I know that these are long awaited initiatives. In your speeches you mentioned your fears that the Commission was being too reluctant or too hesitant. We feel absolutely no reluctance or hesitation. Please believe me when I say that, in my position, I adopt an extremely constructive and open-minded approach to working with my colleagues. It is not always an easy matter to make the practical progress in these initiatives that you expect to see. I needed the document issued on 14 March as a basis to work on and also, ladies and gentlemen, in order to progress, and indeed make rapid progress, I now need to ensure that there is proper legal certainty. This is not a completely obvious point which can be disregarded, even in the interpretation of Article 299(2).
I should like to thank you, Minister Sudre, for the quality of your report and its candour. It is a document which my team and I feel is full of ideas and proposals, which goes to the heart of the issues and does not dodge any of the areas of concern of the peoples of the outermost communities. In some way, here in Strasbourg you have managed to express the concerns of these remote regions – which does not happen all that often – which of course suffer from the handicaps related to their remote position and distance, compounded, for most of them, by their island nature, and other often difficult geographical or economic conditions, but these are factors which may also prove to be assets. For I have always thought and continue to think, as you yourself have said, Mrs Sudre, that these regions can, and indeed wish to, play the role of the active frontier of the European Union at the centre of the Atlantic, next to the Americas or in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
This discussion will moreover continue beyond the initiatives we are going to take in the weeks to come, in the second cohesion report which, as you ask, will assess the impact of enlargement on regional disparities. This report, which I shall be coming to present to you personally next spring will be the starting point for a major debate on future regional policy and future cohesion policy for the period 2006-2013.
In this debate, I should like to see special attention continuing to be given to the development of the outermost regions. I have a lasting commitment to aid and support for these regions, and therefore understand, ladies and gentlemen, the concern expressed, here and there, in your regions and also in the Objective 1 regions, which I visit regularly, regarding the challenge of enlargement. Earlier, Mr Pohjamo, you yourself mentioned this anxiety, echoing the work and the commitment of Mr Sanchez, and let me at this point ask you to convey our wishes for a speedy recovery to him, given his current health problems.
Mr Markov also raised this issue. Enlargement is not something to be afraid of. Overall, it is a challenge we must accept in the interests of the European Union, and its stability for the continent of Europe, peace and democracy, and even to ensure the smooth running of the internal market, giving it new opportunities. Of course, enlargement is not something that can be achieved just any old how at any old time. There are rules. We are working and making our own preparations, but, ladies and gentlemen, just because we are going to integrate some very poor regions in Eastern Europe into the European Union as of 2003 – and you know full well just how very impoverished they are – does not mean that, suddenly, because of enlargement, we shall think that poor regions in the West or the South, or impoverished outermost regions, have no more problems. In these regions, as we know, there are long-term problems and I therefore believe that, objectively, in accordance with their actual level of development, they need long-term support from regional policy and special measures.
Ladies and gentlemen, now to an issue which was highlighted in particular by Mr Medina Ortega, a number of tax and customs matters are also currently being examined. Let me refer to those concerning the Canaries, the Azores and Madeira. I should also like to mention the French system of tax on rum in the French overseas departments. Let me assure you that the Commission is paying these issues great attention. In all these areas, let me reiterate, I consider that a great many initiatives can be taken very quickly and tabled before the Council prior to the meeting in Nice. This is in keeping, Mrs Sudre, with the wish expressed very recently by the President of the French Republic, the President-in-Office of the European Council and the Prime Minister of France.
The Commission is also paying great attention to a number of other issues. I am thinking, Mr Medina Ortega, of a point you raised, the issue of transport, a point which has long been of interest to me, the matter of energy, renewable energies, energy sufficiency, and access to the various Community programmes. Most of all, however, I would like at this point to mention one point that is particularly important to the future of these regions. There is also the matter of the information society. These new technologies and this information society are, ladies and gentlemen, not just a luxury for the richest regions of Europe. Quite the opposite, I think that these new technologies, Internet access, and all the employment opportunities related to these are a great opportunity for the remote or outermost regions.
That is why I personally strove to ensure that a significant part of the Structural Funds was dedicated to the information society, and access to this information society for farmers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and young people. The important thing now is that a good number of projects are presented under the SPDs, but also, alongside this grass-roots action, we must consider in depth the specific needs of each of the outermost regions in relation to access to the information society. What impact could this information society have on the development of your regions, particularly in the field of e-commerce, administration, distance education, telemedicine, whose very positive and very tangible effects I saw in the Azores? The Commission has commissioned a report on this, which we shall receive by mid 2001. These results will be used towards a consultation debate, in partnership with national and regional authorities.
Ladies and gentlemen, the third aspect concerns the role of the regions in their own geographical areas. We have two concerns in this respect. The first is that their interests should, of course, be taken into account in negotiating the various trade agreements which we are called upon to sign. We are therefore going to initiate a study of the potential impact on the outermost regions of implementing the new ACP agreement. Then, as you yourselves advocate, we wish to stimulate cooperation between the outermost regions themselves and also between these regions and their geographical neighbours.
Let me stress the fact that the Interreg III programme, which lies within my remit, provides the necessary resources for that, since I made it my business to ensure that strand B gives real priority, and also a great deal of money, to this type of regional cooperation.
Finally, I should like to hark back to three major points raised in your report, Mrs Sudre. The first of these questioned what our future plans were, and asked for a multiannual programme. I should just like to explain the way the Commission sees matters. Our March report, as I have just said, laid down the broad lines of our strategy. We have undertaken, on this basis, to present annual action programmes, with timetables enabling us to gradually modulate our approach. We have already commissioned the Interdepartmental Group responsible for the outermost regions, to which a number of you have already paid tribute, to draw up the first programme for the year 2001. This group has also been assigned the task, and this is a response to another point in your report, of undertaking an ongoing examination of the various initiatives – according to one of your own recommendations – prepared by the Commission, in order to ensure that the legitimate interests of the outermost regions are taken into account across the board in all community policies. What is more, I check that this group is doing this properly on a monthly basis.
The third point is to do with partnership between Europe, the States and the Regions. This partnership is a valued component in the policy for the outermost regions. It applies to practical examples, but should also enable a periodic exchange of overviews on all subjects of concern to these regions. A partnership day was held on 23 November 1999, in which many of us participated. It would again be possible to organise a meeting of this kind in 2001, by which time we shall have made more progress in carrying out the programme presented in March.
I should next like to make one comment on your report, to say that its underlying political line is, broadly speaking, that currently adopted by the Commission. Let me firstly outline our overall approach to the subject of the outermost regions and then discuss the work currently being undertaken by the Commission to put this approach into practice.
In conclusion – with apologies if I have spoken too long, which I probably have, but these are important issues which I feel very strongly about – I should like to reiterate the last paragraph of the conclusions of our March report in order to stress the fact that, in our opinion, the future of these regions will be determined to a great extent by the success of the strategy which we have proposed in this report, but this success will also be extremely significant for the European Union as a whole, as it will have proven its capacity to successfully take on one of the most complex challenges that exist in Europe.
That is all, ladies and gentlemen, except for one last word. I am actively working, together with my fellow Commissioners, for the initiatives which I mentioned on the basis of the March report. As a priority, I shall ensure that these initiatives are given shape very soon and that they, or the majority of them, can be presented in Nice. I shall then, with your participation, if you are willing, devote my attention to conducting the dialogue on European issues – and the future and the place of the outermost regions form part of these issues. At grass-roots level, as I started to do in the Azores, it is my intention in the coming months, as soon as the Intergovernmental Conference is over, to visit each of these regions in order to meet you, work with you, meet the civic, social, professional and political groupings and, also, as I regularly do, to discuss matters with the people of your regions.
Regarding the Commission’s approach, as Mr Fruteau put it earlier, speaking of a process of slow maturation, if I have noted your own words correctly, the Commission was behind the policy for the outermost regions and also the various programmes – Poseidom, Poseica, Poseima (Programmes of options specific to the remote and insular nature of the French overseas departments, of the Canary Islands, and of Madeira and the Azores) – which launched this. In this undertaking, the Commission has always been, and continues to be, supported by Parliament, both in the legislative process – ladies and gentlemen, there are at least 700 legislative acts on these regions – and in the lengthy task of grass-roots implementation.
Mr Fernández Martín, whom I must thank, quite rightly stated the results obtained thereby in practical terms. The report we issued in March sums the situation up. Yet, Parliament, just like the Commission, has realised that, as the Community was developing, the Community approach had to be consolidated as far as these regions were concerned. Consequently, on the occasion of the preparations for the previous Intergovernmental Conference, they backed the negotiations which – I remember this clearly as I was the French negotiator for the Treaty of Amsterdam at the time – led to Article 299(2) being adopted. This article, ladies and gentlemen, although it does not enable us to do everything, at least allows us to step up or action, and I believe it is necessary to expand and improve our schemes.
Let us not, however, forget that Article 299(2) also states that the coherence of the Community legal order and the unity of the internal market must not be undermined. This, ladies and gentlemen, means that we, that is, you and I, must find a balance between complying with general regulation and adapting policy to the specific needs of the outermost regions. We must somehow find a way to ensuring, as Mr Marques has just mentioned, equal opportunities for all citizens, but do so by finding the middle ground between the two requirements I have just mentioned, i.e. adapting policy to the regions which need it and compliance with the common rules mentioned in Article 299.
This balance, ladies and gentlemen, must be sought initially on a case-by-case basis. Let me give one example of this. Your report, Mrs Sudre, quite rightly stresses the need to take long-term action. Just now Mr Ripoll y Martinez de Bedoya also stressed the importance of the long-term nature or the continuation of measure undertaken, precisely because of the long-term nature of the handicaps. What is the situation in this respect? A number of measures, such as the POSEI agricultural regulations have no fixed time limit. However, in many areas, such as taxation or customs, for instance, the coherence of Community legislation and the unity of the internal market dictate that there are time limits, even if they are reasonably long, preferably with a mid-term assessment.
Ladies and gentlemen, the report we issued on 14 March 2000 outlines a strategy which will, I believe, enable the European Union to make a more effective contribution to sustainable development in these outermost regions and thereby to implement Article 299(2) in practical terms. This coherent overall strategy should, we feel, enable the qualitative leap forward, which your report, Minster, demands. This strategy is based on three major aspects. Support for traditional areas of production, agriculture and fisheries. That is the first point. Support for revival, modernisation, and the diversification of economic activities by the better coordinated and better targeted use of the Community instruments available to us. That is the second aspect. And finally, reinforcing cooperation with the countries located around these outermost regions, in their own geographical and political environment. That is the third point. But what should lead to real progress is the combination and coordination of each of these aspects, the coherence of this overall strategy.
Earlier Mrs Sudre mentioned, in a moment of concern, as it were, what she described as some kind of reluctance or hesitation on the part of the Commission. I should like to tell her, and we know each other quite well now that I have been a Commissioner for just a little more than a year, that I have fully understood that in order to make progress and to proceed successfully – and you can count on me to support this movement – we must take things one step at a time. Our report of 14 March was one such necessary step. I was, moreover, given to understand that even though it did not necessarily provide immediate answers to all the problems, it did still meet with a relatively positive and constructive response in each of the outermost regions. We needed to have this report. I personally needed to have this report within the College of Commissioners in order to build on it and develop the next stages successfully. I do, however, understand your comments, Mrs Sudre, as a sort of message intended to reinforce the political will of the Commission. Indeed, when the time comes, it will be necessary, moreover, to offer the Council the same support and the same message."@en1
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