Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-05-Speech-1-250"
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"en.20100705.24.1-250"2
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"Mr President, to begin with, I would like to thank the shadow rapporteurs for our fruitful work together, which has enabled production of a document which is of great significance for a number of areas of the Union’s work. The report on the European Union strategy for the Baltic Sea region and the role of macro-regions in future cohesion policy emphasises regional cooperation in order to implement measures covering a number of policies, including transport, fisheries, energy and agricultural policy, as well as scientific research. A real possibility of putting this ambitious plan into effect arose in 2004, when the number of Baltic states found in European Union structures increased to eight out of nine.
The priority elements of macro-regional cooperation are transport policy and environmental protection. These are linked by the necessity of reducing discrepancies in infrastructural standards as well as by the fact that they illustrate perfectly the structure of dependence on the part of Member States which is characteristic of this approach. There can be no effective measures to combat pollution and contamination of the ecosystem in the Baltic region without integrated action from each of the countries which are situated around its shores.
Secondly, macro-regional cooperation undoubtedly produces and contributes to the creation of conditions which favour the development of innovation. Using the huge intellectual potential of its residents, we can bring about an increase in the competitiveness of the economy of the entire macro-region. This fact, in turn, will have significant meaning for the development of the entire European Union, for which a stronger position and a more stable economic situation are of undeniable strategic significance.
Thirdly, we must not forget social objectives. Creating conditions for the prosperity of the citizens and inclusion of cultural, educational and touristic elements in the projects are of considerable significance. Furthermore, assistance with the development of civil society, which is the basis of a democratic political system, will also help strengthen the integration process. However, there can be no talk of such changes if people’s general standard of living does not improve. Therefore, it is necessary to give constant and active support to the creation of new jobs.
The European Union strategy for the pioneering and pilot Baltic Sea macro-region is currently an important reference point in the debate on the future cohesion policy after 2013. Presently, projects implemented as part of the strategy use resources which come under cohesion policy. However, in view of their multi-sectoral nature, today’s debate should be directed towards the need in the near future to establish specific methods and sources as well as an appropriate method of financing macro-regional strategies in the future programming period.
Taking into consideration the future of these strategies, we look with great hope to the European Commission’s plan to create a best practices database, which will allow precise observation of measures which are already in operation and enable their use as models for other strategies. Guided by the need for programmes of the highest effectiveness, carried out as part of the strategy for the Baltic and successive macro-regional projects, we call on the Commission to develop instruments and objective criteria for the protection of what has been accomplished so far. Thanks to this, the mid-term analysis of realisation of the strategy can be a reference point for the next undertakings of this kind.
We should also remember the need to have answers to questions which are crucial in this regard: are these strategies to be realised as part of the cohesion policy and how are they to be funded in order to make effective use of funds coming from the European Union? It is with great satisfaction that I observe development of the idea of macro-regions. They all have the opportunity to concentrate at cross-border level on issues which are important from the point of view of territorial cohesion, in other words, implementing the idea of integration which has been promoted from the beginning by the European Union. Furthermore, the creation of functional regions which share the same goals has a chance of increasing the effectiveness of regional policy.
Ladies and gentlemen, the example of the Baltic Sea serves as a model, is an encouragement to start work on other macro-regions and testifies to significantly better integration."@en1
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