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mr president commissioner i would like to thank mrs schroedter for an excellent report |
she has gone into the issue in some depth and in the committee debate she took account of many of the amendments that have been tabled regarding this report |
the rapporteur has also quite rightly stated that parliament was not heard in time regarding the guidelines |
we are badly behind now in this matter |
hopefully the stands parliament has taken will help however in the midterm appraisal of the programmes and in their practical implementation |
for the time the report grew too large when it was being debated |
it contained details and issues that had already been raised in previous reports |
at this stage it is more important to concentrate on assessing how we can use this process to steer union regional policy bearing in mind that the aim is to reduce regional inequality |
our group emphasises the importance of the principle of subsidiarity the responsibility of member states and the role of local players in drafting and implementing programmes |
it is especially important to get smes involved in the planning and implementation of programmes |
our group also considers it important to take greater account of remote and peripheral areas and wishes to increase interaction between towns and rural areas |
we oppose the excessive control the central administration of the union and its member states exercises and we are calling for a reduction in the bureaucracy that has taken root in the drafting and implementation of programmes |
projects implemented with support from the union have had their effect watered down all too often by slow decision making and complicated administrative processes |
funds have often been granted for projects which have had no lasting benefit for the area concerned |
projects have to be carried out more efficiently more flexibly and they have to be made more productive |
while the report was being prepared it was interesting to discuss the union' s regional policy in general |
for us new members it was the first time and this was a very interesting process |
this report is very good and our group supports it |
mr president commissioner as proof that this parliament has not yet overcome its role as a consultative and subordinate institution the excellent report by a fellow member of my group elisabeth schroedter has not been able to reach plenary sitting because the plans for regional development for the period 20002006 for objective 1 regions have been sitting in the commission' s offices for several months |
bearing this in mind this house should in any event demand that before the community support frameworks for the period in question are approved they be studied and submitted for debate in this parliament specifically in light of the guidelines that we have presented today this is because we think that they are particularly able to create employment in the poorest and leastdeveloped regions and we would thus contribute to reversing the harmful trends towards inequality that exist in european society and to the move towards a fairer europe |
mr president we should not forget that the main strategic objective of the structural and cohesion funds and of their coordination is to achieve economic and social cohesion |
we are obliged to participate in drafting directives and also in assessing their results |
we are obliged to do so because we are the representatives of the citizens in a europe of citizens and not just in a europe of states and of regions |
we feel that the funds are a necessary but insufficient condition for achieving economic and social cohesion |
we might be mistaken in using the gross domestic product per inhabitant as the sole indicator |
some speakers have already mentioned unemployment and the fall in population |
we will have to study several indicators which will enable us to see the current state of regional societies that are in a worse situation than others and how they are evolving |
it is clear from some of the reports that have been presented to parliament' s plenary sitting today that europe' s 25 most prosperous regions enjoy a level of unemployment which is five times lower than in the 25 least prosperous regions |
this fact means that the european parliament the commissioner and the commission must act decisively and strategically |
i agree that the european parliament did not have the opportunity or that it was not given the opportunity as we had reached the end of the parliamentary term to discuss the directives |
i do not think however that this report has come too late |
we need to consider it together so that the new objective 1 programmes and the plans for regional development which have been drafted before the directives come into force can be submitted for revision and proper assessment |
we all agree that we should ask that halfway through these programmes when the assessment of the directives is made parliament should be given an equally influential role on the grounds that we are the citizens' representatives |
our citizens cannot accept that the european union takes decisions in a way that is at least on the face of it bureaucratic |
they need to see the political dimension working to see that officials accept their responsibilities and that there is communication with the citizens |
this is what we are today asking the commissioner for |
i would like to think that given his previous experience as a regional president he will agree to propose indicators and a strategy which will favour economic and social cohesion and not just productivity |
mr president i support the main proposals of the report concerning the administration of the structural funds and the cohesion fund for the period 20002006 and the main recommendations of the report which include the following there must always be an integrated approach to the spending of eu structural and cohesion funds |
this means that there must be a comprehensive partnership between local authorities and national governments with regard to how these funds are to be spent |
member states are urged to attach greater importance to integrated strategies for revitalising relations between towns and rural areas |
this latter point is of particular importance |
while urban renewal in our cities is very important we must always strike a balance in our policies between promoting rural development and improving the lives of city dwellers |
we do not want to build a europe of cities alone |
the structural funds have played a key role in the development both of urban and rural parts of peripheral countries mainly through the upgrading of roads water treatment and related transport networks |
this process will continue in accordance with the financial spending guidelines laid down by the eu leaders at their berlin summit last year which were supported by parliament at its last may plenary partsession |
key eu programmes between 1989 1993 1994 and 1999 have certainly helped to improve the economic competitiveness of peripheral countries and objective 1 regions within europe |
the key now is to consolidate and make permanent the progress made to date |
this would ensure that the peripheral countries and the ultraperipheral regions the poorer regions in europe are in a position to operate successfully within the new euro currency zone as well as within an everexpanding internal market where the free movement of goods persons services and capital exist |
in conclusion while key infrastructure projects have been supported by the european regional development fund and the cohesion fund we should remember that the european social fund has played a very important role in helping the less welloff in our society |
the social fund has certainly improved our thirdlevel institutions financed our postleaving certificate programmes and put in place comprehensive schemes to help combat youth and longterm unemployment assist early school leavers and promote higher standards of adult literacy |
mr president on numerous occasions in the past i have disagreed with the rapporteur on her approach to regional policy issues |
this time however i actually agree with her whether or not this will encourage her to continue along the same path i cannot say |
nevertheless i would like to commend her on her work |
the second point i would like to make is that we would have preferred it if the guidelines had been added to the regulation in the form of an annex as we and mrs mccarthy as rapporteurs for the general regulation had asked |
unfortunately this did not happen mr berni茅 is not to blame for this as it was a matter for the previous committee |
i am raising the issue just to reiterate parliament' s position |
thirdly we broadly agree on the general guidelines provided they do not deviate from the comments we have made so far |
they are particularly beneficial to the member states and i would particularly like to draw your attention to the emphasis the commission has placed on the issues of sustainable development job creation and more particularly on equal opportunities and transport issues |
personally i at least am totally in favour of the guidelines |
as an islander however i would like to express my dissatisfaction at the lack of recognition of island development |
this is not the first time that this issue has not been given the consideration it deserves |
this has been an ongoing concern for the five years that i have been a member of this parliament and i have raised the issue time and time again |
commissioner we shall continue to raise the issue as article 158 paragraph 1 of the treaty of amsterdam provides for an integrated policy for islands |
therefore the commission should address the issue once and for all |
the time has come to implement the programmes and so member states should also assume their responsibilities and do their jobs properly |
as for us in parliament i would like to remind you of the code of conduct between the commission and parliament which was signed in may |
i am absolutely certain that this code will be observed and that parliament will keep abreast of all the developments and details concerning the implementation of the programmes |
mr president commissioner in this minute and a half i should like first of all to congratulate mrs schroedter |
i know many have already done so but she has indeed earned our praise for being particularly open and attentive to proposals from all sides and i think it is this openness which has given her report the quality we see today |
i share the regrets she expressed namely that parliament has become involved rather late in the day as regards these guidelines since by now the procedure for negotiations with the states is so far advanced that i cannot see this report having any sort of immediate effect which in my view is a pity |
consequently i feel we must look to the future and establish guidelines for the midterm review in 2003 and thus have an influence on the second phase of programming set to follow 2003 |
in brief i would like to say that we are entering the period when we are called upon to manage the programming for 20002006 which must be no routine period for the good reason that we have two major challenges to face |
the first is the harmonisation of national development policies and regional development policies |
subsidies are not enough to ensure development when infrastructure and public services are lacking |
we must ask ourselves a fundamental question how can we ensure that union policy interfaces with the subsidiary national policies for regional development |
the second challenge is that of enlargement which will of course have a considerable impact both in budgetary and geographical terms |
these are two areas of action which i invite the commissioner to set up and in which i would ask him to involve us |
finally in this time of natural disasters i would just like to mention the issue of the use of structural funds |
as you know it is up to each state to redistribute part of the total appropriation |
europe should not be completely absent as the states tend to want |
public opinion and the press nowadays accuse us of being unavailable to give a response even though we are going to be funding a large proportion of the national operations |
i think we should be capable of saying this loud and clear |
i also think we should ensure or ask member states to ensure that there is some publicity given to european aid whenever it is used to repair damage caused by natural disasters or accidents |
mr president the priority given to financial and monetary criteria reinforces the increase in inequalities of every shape and form |
as far as french planning experts are concerned for example the most probable scenario today is that of the entrenchment of regional disparities within each country |
well the structural funds have helped to apply a brake to this process |
our project of a europe that aims to satisfy social needs envisages the convergence of living conditions towards the highest common denominator |
its implementation would certainly require extending the scope of redistribution instruments such as the structural funds |
what we are proposing specifically is a unified capital tax which would make it possible to boost the funds used to support the harmonisation of social protection systems and the reduction of working hours at european level |
the commission however though bound to issue guidelines does so only reluctantly and in a vague manner |
the report put forward today reestablishes its place in the political sphere |
it is one of the steps towards a policy of employment and sustainable development |
this is what persuades us to vote in favour of it |
mr president i too would like to congratulate the rapporteur on her excellent work |
over the coming years faced with the challenges of globalisation and eastward enlargement europe will more than ever before require appropriate detailed guidance on how to plan and revitalise its economy |
to this end europe as a whole and each member state individually will have to make optimum use of all available resources and capacities including the structural funds |
for this to be possible what we need from the european commission are not just good intentions but clearer guidelines and a firm commitment to monitoring the way these resources are used by the member states |
for example in recent years italy has had problems in utilising the structural funds mainly because of excessive bureaucracy insufficient information and a lack of involvement of economic and social operators at local level |
there are therefore two points to which i would like to draw the commission' s attention |
firstly we need to make the best possible use of consultation as a means of ensuring proper coordination and participation by all local and regional operators in decisionmaking precisely so that imbalances and inequalities can be avoided |