Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-358"
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"en.20050412.32.2-358"2
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"Many thanks, Madam President, esteemed Commissioner. I share the concern of my colleagues, as expressed in the question presented to the Commission. In order to meet the legitimate expectations of the citizens of the European Union, regional policy must be based on the interests of the European Union as a whole, and on a fair distribution of responsibilities, and I am grateful for Madam Commissioner’s confirmation that the ten new Member States have also made their contribution in this area.
The Constitution of the European Union provides for the strengthening of solidarity within the regions. Therefore it is important to maintain a balance, not only in the provision of funding to new and old members, but also in the funding of different regions of the European Union.
The Mediterranean region, for instance, has for years received very extensive financial support, which is good and justified. However, it is not good that funding for the Nordic Dimension has been many times more modest, despite the fact that the Baltic Sea region is becoming the area with the greatest growth potential in the EU. The European Union has a Mediterranean strategy, in the same way that it has a Russia strategy. I would like to propose that the Commission should develop a separate strategy for the Baltic Sea region, and that this should be financed similarly to the Mediterranean strategy. This would provide a new balance in regional policy, because the Baltic Sea is becoming the Mediterranean of Northern Europe.
One practical question concerning regional development – the eligibility of value added tax from the Cohesion Fund and the Regional Fund. In the Estonian context, leaving value added tax off the list of eligible expenditures significantly reduces the ability of small local governments to submit projects. This means that structural assistance will become 18% more expensive for them."@en1
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