Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-21-Speech-2-723"
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"en.20100921.23.2-723"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the Structural Funds are an essential EU financial instrument in our endeavours to reach the 2020 targets. They are especially important in the sparsely populated northern regions, and I wish to make the following four points. First of all, these special areas will be the first to encounter a multitude of problems, and they will be the hardest hit by them. As the population of working age has, in many cases, moved away in search of employment, many sparsely populated areas will be the first to face the problem of an ageing population.
I obviously know about the situation in Finland best, and I can tell you that eastern and northern Finland will soon have areas where more than half the population are retired. By 2020, the proportion of older people to the working population, that is to say, the socalled dependency ratio, will be at its most critical in eastern Finland, Italy and eastern Germany. The degree of polarisation between the regions will increase dramatically and the number of areas whose dependency ratio is more than 25% above the EU average will rise to 40 by 2020. That is why it is important to take account of the demographic criteria connected with an ageing population in regional and structural policy, and not just allow GDP to be the only significant factor.
Secondly, these regions must no longer be allowed to lose their population of working age. Instead, what is needed is a focus on competitiveness in these areas, to lift them out of the economic crisis and for them to achieve the EU 2020 objectives. What is needed is the development of innovation and expertise, and stronger competitiveness. They need to achieve more with less money. The selection criteria for funding for innovation should be genuinely good results. The focus needs to be on themes that promote competitiveness and employment best in each area, and there is also a need for new social and service innovations.
Thirdly, we need regional programmes that integrate measures under the Structural Funds and whose results can be measured and evaluated. The administrative burden that results from management and inspection systems in the Member States must be in proportion to the amount of funding available. The funding must be made conditional on results and linked to structural reforms in the economy and responsible economic policy.
Finally, my fourth point is that we need crossborder cooperation between the regions, especially where it concerns projects connected with business, industry and the environment. A good opportunity presents itself in the context of the Baltic Sea and Danube macroregions, for example, which have already been mentioned in the debate here. Cooperation is needed between the EU’s neighbours, but the Baltic Sea, for example, also needs Russia to participate in regional cooperation. Europe’s only indigenous people ..."@en1
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