Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-19-Speech-4-119"
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"en.20021219.5.4-119"2
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"Mr President, I would first like to say that we are at the end of the International Year of Mountains, which was organised by the United Nations. I think it is very positive that Parliament is able to discuss Europe’s role in this matter, particularly at the end of the Year of Mountains.
I would also like to welcome, along with the Commissioner who is present and those who are absent, the fact that we are witnessing a change in perspective. Over the years, my colleagues here and I have criticised the Union’s lack of interest in the problems of mountain regions. Today you have shown a different attitude, which was already evident in the October meeting organised on the Commission’s initiative around the theme of ‘EU policies and the mountain’, which included, among others, a speech by President Prodi.
I appreciated your speech, Commissioner, because you succeeded in summarising the various issues. I would like to briefly go back over a few matters.
First of all, as Mrs Guy-Quint said at the end of her speech, there is the major problem of introducing the issue of mountain regions into the treaties, which is absolutely essential. I think that we should take into account the important role of the Convention in this. We also need to make use of the two presidencies of the Council: the Greek Presidency and the Italian Presidency, two countries that are obviously affected by the problems of mountain regions. Introducing the issue into the treaties will provide an essential legal basis for obtaining a directive on mountain regions, in which we must of course solve the problem of competition. I therefore think that progress should be made in this respect.
Having said that, we should also look at the prospects for regional policy for 2007-2013. Why not consider a specific structural fund for mountain regions? Or, better perhaps, for areas that are geographically or naturally handicapped? I will not add anything regarding agriculture. Agriculture remains essential for safeguarding mountain regions. The same can be said about tourism, which Mrs Grossetête discussed in detail.
I would like to add a few words on the International Convention on the Protection of the Alps. Unfortunately, I do not think that the Commission has sufficiently monitored the work of this Convention. In this respect, we need to promote the transport protocol, in order to have a legal basis for taking specific measures to regulate the flow of heavy goods vehicles in mountainous areas. We obviously also need to look more closely at the issue of the funding of the major rail links such as Turin-Lyon, the Pyrenees and the Brenner pass, because in my view it is one of the keys to sustainable development in mountain regions."@en1
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