Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-02-Speech-2-011"
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"en.20030902.1.2-011"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as early as the year 2000 I expressed regret in this House that, although the poorest regions and Member States had been catching up thanks to EU support for regional development, the gap between the least and most developed regions in the Community had barely narrowed. The inequalities in regional development continue to exist. This conclusion can also be drawn from the report by Mr Mastorakis, whom I should like warmly to congratulate.
Despite the best efforts of those responsible for regional policy at European and national level, the challenges that we face today in the year 2003 are not diminishing. They are becoming even greater if you consider the stagnant economy and the sharp increase in unemployment in many European countries. A very great burden is placed on economic and social cohesion even today. The enlargement of the European Union to include ten more countries from central and eastern Europe will not only increase regional disparities and thus place an even greater strain on cohesion, but, as the expiry of the current support period from 2000 to 2006 approaches, the debate on the shape of future regional policy from 2007 is also coming to the fore.
In my opinion, the assessment of the criteria for measuring the development status and thus the eligibility of a region is a priority issue. Factors in regional development such as the rate of industrialisation, the level of poverty and social exclusion, the level of unemployment, the potential for research and development, the training capacity, the sustainability of development and the development of environmental protection, all need to be taken into account in the assessment alongside the present single criterion of GDP per head of the population.
It is of particular concern to me, as it is to other Members from Objective 1 areas, that these special regions do not fall out of the highest support bracket because of a change in the arithmetic due to the accession of the new Member States. For them the principle should apply that they can claim the same financial support and rights to subsidies as they did before enlargement. I also support Mr Mastorakis's statement in his report about the shape of future Objective 2 areas, that is how they and the Objective 3 measures for disadvantaged groups are to be restructured, and welcome his comments on how eligibility for these measures will be determined."@en1
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