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this makes it necessary to also take account of the ways in which materials and packaging are affected by cold of this kind |
it is good that in establishing the present regulations we can also be flexible |
i hope that the commission is able to accept the present amendment |
mr president i would like to thank not only mr koch but also the vicepresident of the commission for the clear and unambiguous way in which they have declared their support for safety in the transport sector and acknowledged it as a priority |
the reason mr koch produced his sound report was because the work in the cen and within the united nations economic commission was proceeding none too expeditiously |
i would like to ask the vicepresident if she is in a position to tell us today what the state of play is with regard to the efforts towards harmonisation being made by these two organisations and whether the eu is in a position to hasten these harmonisation efforts in accordance with principles that are as simple as possible |
for one thing is clear even if we come to an excellent arrangement within the european union traffic does not stop at our borders it goes beyond them |
hence there is certainly every reason to introduce more farreaching regional provisions |
if the commissioner is unable to do so today then would she be prepared to inform the committee in writing of how matters stand and what stage negotiations between the cen and the economic commission are at |
mr president i would once again like to congratulate mr koch on his magnificent work on this other report which in a way supplements the debate which we held in october on rail transport |
we all regret that the european committee for standardisation (cen) has not been able in the required time to carry out the amendment of the provisions necessary for the required harmonisation within the european union |
this debate and the amendment of the directive currently in force allow us to incorporate differentiating elements which demonstrate the diversity of this europe of ours |
a moment ago mr vatanen spoke to us of lower temperatures not of 20 degrees below zero but of 40 degrees below zero |
of course we accept that amendment it is absolutely right and i believe that we should incorporate specific circumstances which demonstrate the climatic diversity of the european union which sometimes take the form of specifics and of concrete requirements for the establishment of standards and characterisations of a technical nature |
i would like to say with regard to mr swoboda' s comments on the activity of the cen that we are urging them to speed up their work as much as possible because it would be terrible if despite the new deadline we were to find ourselves after a year and a bit with the same difficulties because their work has not been concluded |
lastly mr president the basic problems justifying this amendment of the directive have been pointed out |
we have referred to the delay by the cen the amendment of certain provisions the consistency between the text of the directive and the content of the annexes and the need to for it to be more specific |
the commission accepts all of the contributions of the parliamentary committee and the rapporteur mr koch which are contained in the various amendments specifically four |
we therefore accept the four amendments which have been proposed |
the debate is closed |
the vote will take place tomorrow at 12 pm |
structural funds cohesion fund coordination |
the next item is the report (a50108/1999) by mrs schroedter on behalf of the committee on regional policy transport and tourism on the communication from the commission in the field of the structural funds and their coordination with the cohesion fund guidelines for programmes in the period 20002006 [com(1999)344 c50122/1999 1999/2127(cos)] |
mr president it is particularly pleasing for me to make my first speech in the european parliament on what is regarded as the most important issue within that part of the united kingdom that i represent in this parliament namely wales |
a major part of wales as you know has been granted objective 1 status under the structural funds programme |
it is quite clear that many people within wales are looking to the european structural funds programme to alleviate some of the great difficulties that we undoubtedly face |
we have seen poverty growing in wales and growing still further since 1997 |
we have seen the gap between rich and poor widen |
we are looking therefore within the structural funds programme not just to see industrial restructuring but also to see a wider improvement in the whole of the economic base within the principality |
what is however deeply damaging for us is the belief that in some way the granting of structural funds assistance is something that has been in a sense a success of the government |
it is sadly only a recognition of the very great difficulties that wales faces |
that is why i want to highlight some of the issues that i believe the commission must have at the forefront |
we look to the commission to deal with points in relation to additionality |
we are dissatisfied with the fact that those figures seem to have been in some way hidden within uk figures |
we look to the commission also to ensure that there is matched funding for projects |
we look to it to challenge the uk government to ensure that the private sector which surely must be providing the major impetus for structural funds expenditure is involved in the planning stage |
finally we ask that the commission ensures that structural fund monies are spent in a way which is transparent |
too much of what takes place within this parliament is not transparent |
this is one area in which i believe the commission can be a very great friend to wales |
mr president our committee views these issues very differently and to start i will speak from the point of view of research |
we see it as a very positive sign that in her own conclusions the rapporteur has taken account of our committee' s proposal that the cohesion fund countries should broaden the research infrastructure by locating universities and colleges in such a way that they would serve those who live in undeveloped regions better than now and make it easier for educated people to remain in their home districts |
this will be possible with action on the part of governments and such decentralisation of higher education will be an unquestionably useful policy in evening out development |
another matter we would like to address specifically from the point of view of industrial policy is that we would have liked the commission to pay more attention to the effects of services electronic commerce and the growing use of the internet when they were planning the coordination of structural funds and cohesion funds |
poverty and wealth used to depend more on means of livelihood |
the rich areas were those where there were jobs in industry but today those areas might have become a burden and they may well be poor meaning we also have to invest in new sectors of industry such as electronic production as i might call it and the production of services because they are the industries of the future |
in my opinion the committee drafting the report has not taken sufficient account of this so on behalf of the committee on industry external trade research and energy i would draw the commission' s attention to this issue |
finally as the committee representing energy we would have liked the issue of support for renewable energy resources from cohesion and regional development funds to have been emphasised still more thus through a process of coordination increasing the use of renewables so that the scant funding resources in the energy programme might have been compensated by means of these more substantial sums |
mr president i would very much like to thank mrs schroedter for the work she has done on this and to explain to colleagues that i am speaking for my colleague mrs flautre who followed this for the committee on employment and social affairs but who is unfortunately ill |
i would like to draw people's attention to amendments nos 1 and 2 which were agreed by the committee on employment and social affairs but not accepted by the committee on regional policy transport and tourism |
these amendments deal with the social economy and the need to provide social risk capital and support financially local schemes to develop employment opportunities and strengthen social cohesion |
in the past this parliament has viewed the social economy as an important potential provider of employment |
these amendments also fit in with this parliament's view that social exclusion is a serious issue needing constructive action |
we hope that those considering rejection of these amendments have very powerful reasons to offer to both parliament and their citizens who are seeking employment |
in her report mrs flautre also drew attention to an area where coordination is sorely lacking yet desperately needed |
the commission proposals refer to the four pillars of employment strategy and the five fields of action of the european social fund |
but the lack of specific guidelines here is particularly to be regretted as the idea of linking social fund assistance to the employment strategy will be put into effect for the first time during the 20002006 programme |
it could be said that the omission gives the impression that the commission too has no idea how to provide maximum coordination between european social fund assistance which is subject to review after three and a half years and the member states' annual national plans for employment |
we hope that the commission can reassure us that this was an oversight which is now being dealt with constructively |
mr president commissioner the proposal presented by the commission in accordance with its mandate is a reasonable starting point for the committee on agriculture and rural development |
i would like to point out however that this starting point indicates to us the challenges which face us maintaining a population in rural areas given the changes taking place in all types of economic activity owing to agriculture' s increasing lack of importance amongst the various sources of income for rural society |
this as well as the deficiencies in the networks of infrastructures and services and a generally very low level of employment which furthermore is seasonal and lacks diversity exacerbates the exodus from rural areas |
the consequences do not inspire hope |
it is the young people who are disappearing who are getting an education and finding work outside of the rural areas all of which has an unfavourable effect on those areas |
this lack of infrastructure is also an obstacle to the establishment of companies and the creation of jobs |
we have to remember that rural areas represent almost four fifths of the territory of the european union |
agriculture only provides 55 of employment in the union |
furthermore three quarters of our farm workers are parttime and require supplements to their incomes |
for this reason one of the most important and essential objectives which we should set in the european union is to make efforts to create new jobs in rural areas outside of the agricultural sector in sectors such as rural tourism sport culture heritage conservation the conversion of businesses new technologies services etc however even though the role of agriculture is not exclusive it is still essential not only to prevent economic and social disintegration and the creation of ghost towns but also because farmers play a fundamental role in managing the land in preserving biodiversity and in protecting the environment |
therefore we support the establishment of an agricultural and rural development policy which is consistent with the objectives we have set we want rural areas at the dawn of the 21st century to be competitive and multifunctional both with regard to agriculture and with regard to opening up to the diversity of nonagricultural activities |
it is important to prioritise general criteria for land planning and demographic equilibrium and to bear in mind the conclusions of the committee on agriculture and rural development on the five fundamental issues which have been only partly taken up by the committee on transport regional policy and tourism in its points 16 and 17 |
in conclusion i would ask the commission to take these five points into account when establishing the conclusions on the four pillars because i believe that for the european union maintaining the population in rural areas must be one of the priority objectives |
mr president commissioner i would like to begin by thanking mrs schroedter the rapporteur for her work |
i think that this work has been carried out extremely well |
i would also like to thank her for her willingness to enter into dialogue with the other political groups when compromise formulas have needed to be reached in the face of this avalanche of amendments and perhaps there are more of them than we expected but which genuinely reflect the importance of the report we are now discussing |
we feel that it is important that the commission takes account of the conclusions adopted by this parliament at least in spirit because at this stage it might seem as though what we are doing here is a useless exercise and nothing but hot air |
the truth of the matter though is that we believe and this is also shown in the way the conclusions have been drafted that the commission must take account of what is adopted by this parliament particularly in the face of an interim revision of these directives |
in our amendments we have stated the importance of the necessary synergies being produced between the structural funds the cohesion fund and community initiatives so that their application should be reflected in the best and most profitable way by the gradual elimination of disparities between regions and by the creation of jobs which are when all is said and done the two central purposes of the funds we are discussing |
in order to achieve a more rapid and efficient boost for attaining these objectives we think that those who generate employment the real entrepreneurs and those who really guarantee new sources of employment that is businesspeople must participate in this initiative |
small and mediumsized businesses above all need to take part in the distribution of these funds |
if they do not if businesspeople feel marginalised if entrepreneurs cannot take part not only in managing but also in receiving these funds we will have missed an opportunity to attain our objectives more rapidly |
also in order to attain our objectives to overcome the disparities between regions and to seek out sources of employment it is crucial to give our complete support to new technologies to transport and communications networks and to renewable energies |
all of this must be done i repeat with the participation of private business which by uniting its efforts with those of public administrations but complementing them never obstructing or excluding them will lead to the creation of wealth in society and of jobs |
mr president it is incumbent upon me to remind my colleague mr evans of why wales actually achieved objective 1 status |
it was because of the discredited policies of his own conservative party |
let me also remind him that when his party leader mr hague was secretary of state for wales he broke every rule in the book on additionality which led to a stern letter from commissioner wulfmathies regarding regulatory requirements |
i can tell you that the british government is aware of its regulatory requirements on objective 1 additionality |
i suggest mr evans goes back and reads the regulation |
my group has made extensive amendments to both reports up for debate today |
i want to focus our minds on the essential role of the guidelines |
the objective is to provide a framework and tool to support and enhance economic regeneration to get the most effective use of resources in the widest partnership and to put these regions back on the road to recovery and sustainable development so that eventually they come off the regional lifesupport machine |
it is important to identify the skills and potential of our regions in the hitech sector |
it is particularly important in the light of reports in the media that europe is rapidly losing ground to the us in the hitech growth industries of the future |
the operation of the previous round of programmes is also very instructive in telling us what guidelines should not be about |
they should not be about creating additional layers of bureaucracy and red tape |
they should not be about shifting priorities and policies halfway through project development resulting in inevitable delays and underspends particularly in the light of the new budgetary requirement |
the implementation and operation of the guidelines cannot be left to the personal interpretation of one or other desk officer either in the commission or in the civil service |
there must be an internal coherence in the commission directorate while respecting the specific local and regional aspects of commission programmes |
the conclusion is that we must make the case for guidelines to be broad indicative and flexible to assist our programme managers and fundusers and to get the maximum potential out of our new fields of regeneration |
if we can inject a spirit of entrepreneurial activity into our poor and structurally weak regions we will eventually get them back onto the road of attracting substantial investor confidence which will be the key to future success |
this is how we are going to judge the success of these guidelines whether eu regional policy with a good solid enabling guideline can open up new opportunities and allow our poor and structurally weak regions to play their full part in contributing to the growth and prosperity of the eu |