Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-356"

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"Madam President, regional policy has played a key, well-defined role ever since the EU took its first tentative steps. Even at that time, the principle of solidarity existed and was a key aspect that set our worldview apart. The objective has always been to ensure that no region is ever left behind in the name of a simplistic and fatalistic vision. For this very reason, all Member States and regions have always been committed to developing and to making their development models sustainable. Today we all want more and there are more of us. Is it either reasonable or rational to expect that, following so much effort towards European cohesion, we are going to be wealthier because there are more of us? As European citizens we do not want only to look at the cosmetic appearance; we want to look at the substance and the structure, and this means not abandoning all of those regions which have yet to complete the process of real convergence and which, due to a simplistic financial outlook, seem to want to become rich overnight. We must also bear in mind that regional policy and the Lisbon Strategy must overlap; it is crucial that strong links be established between these two objectives if they are to be effective. Measuring growth in purely financial terms is both artificial and unsustainable; on the other side of that coin, sustainable development implies convergence and competitiveness. If we place emphasis on competitiveness, leaving behind those who have only recently started to stand on their own two feet, those countries will fall back down and will not have the strength to get up again alone. For us, for all of the citizens of this Europe of solidarity, competitiveness must not replace convergence. Nor must competitiveness replace a more visible regional policy. What is needed is solidarity with many regions such as the Algarve, the Highlands, the Asturias region and Madeira, and many other European regions that in theory became rich overnight."@en1

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