Mr President, Madam Vice-President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, as a Member for one of the outermost regions, I welcomed the opportunity to draw up the report we are now discussing. I am pleased because the Commission’s proposals to reduce the special rate of excise duty on the consumption of certain alcoholic drinks produced in Madeira, the Azores and the French overseas departments are yet another measure giving form and substance to the principle of remoteness, enshrined in Article 299(2) of the Treaties. We should bear in mind that this legal basis, endorsed by the Treaty of Amsterdam, provides for the adoption of specific measures in various fields, especially that of tax legislation, in accordance with the very particular geographical, social, economic and cultural situations of these European regions. In short, the European Union can give these territories special treatment in line with their very specific situations, and the only limit on this special treatment should be the integrity and coherence of the Community legal system, including the internal market and common policies. Only by providing this specific treatment will we ensure that these regions can become involved in the dynamism unleashed by the internal market, by Economic and Monetary Union, by the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union, and even by the phenomenon of globalisation. Only by providing this special treatment will we ensure that these regions can offer genuine equal opportunities for our citizens living in the outermost regions. The measures to reduce the special rate of excise duty on rum and liqueurs produced and consumed in Madeira, on eaux-de-vie produced and consumed in the Azores and on rum produced in the French overseas departments are crucial to offsetting production costs and thereby guaranteeing the survival of traditional activities of considerable economic, social, historic and cultural importance for these regions. One hundred and forty jobs are at stake in Madeira and the Azores and 40 000 in the French Overseas Departments. At stake are also elements related to the specific identity itself of these regions, particularly in the French Overseas Departments, where activities linked to the planting of sugar cane and to the production of sugar and rum are an important part of the economic and social history of these territories. All of these activities are, therefore, linked to the sugar cane, sugar and rum industries, which depend on this tax measure, in a context marked by the revision of the COM in sugar and by the dismantling of customs barriers for exports to the Community market of spirits from third countries. Indeed, without the tax measure now being proposed, how will rum production in the OD be able to remain viable, when production costs for rum are considerably higher there than in neighbouring Caribbean countries, when rum from the Caribbean is able to enter the Community market without duties in 2003? We should bear in mind that Community rum producers pay between four and six times more for sugar cane and three times more for their work force. Here, costs arising from adapting rum production units to environmental standards, in order to comply with Community regulations, are increasing. I shall close by emphasising that, despite the permanent nature of the specific characteristics that justify the special treatment granted to the outermost regions by Article 299(2), these tax measures are not only limited in terms of time – they are valid for seven years – but are also limited in quantitative terms. They are, furthermore, subject to periodic evaluation, in order to assess whether the reasons which justify the granting of the tax derogation still exist. Before us, therefore, lies a well-drafted and balanced proposal by the Commission, to which we should all give our support. It responds, on the one hand, to the need for special treatment for the outermost regions and, on the other, safeguards the integrity of the Community’s internal market. This is also the type of measure that creates and promotes European citizenship in territories far from the centre of Europe such as the outermost regions.

Political group: PPE-DE