Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-21-Speech-4-058"
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"en.20080221.3.4-058"2
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"Mr President, I would like to take this opportunity at the end of the debate to thank Members for all their contributions. There are many points to which I cannot respond now, owing to the lack of time, but which I will take with me. These include the concerns expressed with regard to small and medium-sized towns, as well as the issue raised about urban transport development.
I can assure you that the Commission will also continue to look into appropriate indicators to complement both the GDP and employment indicators, and will in the Fifth Cohesion Report propose a new composite type of indicator.
Thank you very much for all your comments. I would especially like to thank the rapporteurs for their contributing to the debate – not just in the past, but also in the future.
There is a clear link between the past and the future in your reports. You are in fact building a bridge, which is why I would like to say a few words on the stage reached in the public consultations on the future of European cohesion policy. We launched those consultations at the end of September 2007, and to date more than 100 well-elaborated statements and opinions have been submitted, not only by national, regional and local governments, but also by a number of European spatial planning associations, as well as economic and social partners, academics, research institutions and private citizens.
At the request of one of the governments, we have extended the consultations until mid-February, because there are still opinions being prepared.
A preliminary assessment of those opinions clearly shows there is overwhelming and impressive support for the policy. The direct impact on growth and development is pointed to, as is the fact that this is a policy that triggers new ways of thinking and also performs a very effective leverage role by attracting additional financial resources.
There is strong interest in the delivery mechanism and broad support for all the principles we have jointly developed with the European Parliament in recent years.
There is also strong support for the need for this policy to respond to the challenges that you have been discussing today, and which are linked not only to globalisation, but also to demography, climate and energy, and restructuring in general, with strong support for the integrated approach.
One of the issues of importance you have raised today is how we will proceed with the Green Paper, which will be adopted by the Commission in September. We will then have a broad period – probably of four months – for discussion in all formats, not only on the web. In the mean time, our services are organising a meeting with the key stakeholders for mid-April. This will help us to take into account further views.
I would be prepared, if there is such a need, to organise a hearing with Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development and with any other institution interested in sharing with us its views on the Green Paper, ahead of its adoption by the Commission.
Another issue raised, which is also a concern for the Commission, was that of statistics and indicators. Through our analytical institution, ESPON, which we have strengthened very substantially, including financially, for the years to come, and which now has a significantly higher budget, we will endeavour to measure some of the new dimensions and some of the existing dimensions of territorial cohesion. That work is ongoing, and we hope to have the results soon."@en1
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