Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-05-Speech-1-265"
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"en.20100705.25.1-265"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the purpose of this report is to highlight the importance of regional policy to recovery in the European Union today, in the wake of the financial crisis and its impact on the real economy.
We also highlight the importance of promoting the JASPERS, JEREMIE and JESSICA initiatives, because there are countries such as Greece (which is not mentioned in the report, but I give it as an example), which signed up with the European Investment Bank in 2007 in order to develop these initiatives and only recently activated the procedures.
We therefore need vigilance, adaptability and coordination of the necessary means if we are to make good use of regional policy.
We want to emphasise that regional policy is the basic source of investment in growth. The Structural Funds are not only tools for ironing out irregularities and structural problems; they are also tools which must be adapted to current circumstances and used in the best possible way for balanced growth, for the functioning of the internal market.
The report focuses in particular on Objective 2 regions, regions which have accounted for an increased proportion of GDP since 2000 and recorded high performance levels in competitiveness, innovation and research.
Following the 2006 reform, Objective 2 regions focused on competitiveness and the creation of quality jobs. By way of example, to illustrate the breadth of this initiative, Objective 2 interventions relate to 168 regions with 314 million inhabitants in 19 Member States of the Union.
These efforts must therefore continue at European, national and local level. It is clear from the motion for a resolution that we want to support the regional dimension of the Europe 2020 strategy, a priority which targets not only regional and social cohesion, but also the competitiveness of the regions.
The resolution calls on the European Commission for greater flexibility in granting appropriations and taking decisions, so that better and quicker use can be made of the Structural Funds. We have already noted that, out of a total of 117 operational funds financed by the European Social Fund, 13 were amended in certain Member States of the European Union and adapted to financial difficulties and the difficulties in providing national financing. We are calling on the European Commission to support efforts by the Member States, so that they can make use of this adaptability.
Our basic proposal is to support the Council decision to increase advances to countries whose GDP has fallen by more than 10% or which have received IMF balance-of-payments support for the purpose of financial adaptation. We are also asking for the European Commission to be allowed to find flexible solutions for the N+2 and N+3 rules, so that Member States in financial difficulty do not forfeit European aid.
Another point we make is that the sixth progress report on cohesion does not include sufficient qualitative and quantitative data on Objective 2 regions. We therefore call on the European Commission to present a study containing all the necessary information so that we can intervene in terms of adaptability under the present circumstances and prepare the next financial perspective on the basis of real circumstances and real needs.
Another issue which we highlight is that, in special circumstances, such as those which gave rise to the report, by which I mean the economic crisis, greater flexibility is needed in the N+2 rule, in view of the objectives pursued by political cohesion and the effects of cyclical economic changes on public finances and private investment."@en1
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