Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-21-Speech-2-732"
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"en.20100921.23.2-732"2
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"Mr President, I should like to echo these thanks, and I would also like to thank the honourable Members. We have had 47 speeches – I have counted them – which bears witness both to the vitality of Parliament and to the importance of this subject. I am particularly pleased that only a single one of these 47 speeches was negative, and that was regarding whether there is any sense in having a policy on cohesion. That should encourage us that this is a very important policy area and one that is capable of reaching out to the people of Europe and making Europe visible, even – and particularly so – in the regions that are the subject of today’s discussions and debate. As it has not yet been mentioned, I would like to point out that in this new period, we now have the possibility of using a modulated cofinancing system to create balance within regions. With respect to what Mr Zeller and others have said, we have created the opportunity to react locally – and very much in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity – to particular needs based on the knowledge of those responsible. We also have a range of very different options in the area of state subsidies – in the area of competition policy, for example – and we should use these opportunities in the interests of the people concerned.
Many of the speeches concerned the matter of indicators, which is something that we frequently encounter in the debate on regional policy. I agree with Mr Deutsch and others who feel that gross domestic product must still be used as a central indicator. However, I fully understand that there is a need and a desire for supplementary indicators to be used. There are already various projects, for example, under ESPON. One such project is the EUROISLANDS project, which is about defining supplementary indicators that are mainly and specifically designed to enable us to draw up better policies in these regions jointly with those who have the primary responsibility. These should not, and cannot, be used primarily to develop new financial indicators, but are there to enable us to tailor our policies in these regions more accurately and more precisely to the needs of the people.
I would particularly like to thank those speakers who mentioned the latent potential of the regions and what can still be done in areas such as research and development. We have some regions in extraordinary locations where very specific research activities are taking place. Thinking of the Canary Islands and their observatories, for example, the research that is being carried on could not be carried on anywhere else, because nowhere else has these precise geographical, topographical and climatic conditions. We must make better use of such factors, including in the renewable energy sector. I would also add my voice to those who have specifically mentioned Internet access. This is indeed something to which we must devote particular attention in the future, because it must be acknowledged that there is still much potential to be realised here.
Once more, thank you for all the contributions to the debate. Regional policy has a major job to do, not just in balancing out discrepancies in the regions but also in meeting the needs of the eight out of 10 people who we know want to have a prospect of getting work in the region where they were born and, in broad terms, of growing old there. For this reason, we should and must pursue a policy that takes precisely these needs into consideration, and that is what we are doing. Our policy is based on people and their needs, and we hope to reach them by this means. It is a never-ending task that needs new impetus time and time again. To this extent, today’s debate and, above all, this report have made a significant contribution to our basis for decisions. I can only assure you that for us in the Commission, we consider it not just a duty and a responsibility to work intensely on such matters, but also a pleasure."@en1
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