EN Official Journal of the European Union C 172/7

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Strategy for the outermost regions: Achievements and future prospects’

(2008/C 172/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— considers that the strategy for the ORs remains entirely valid and that, far from having run its course should be continued, built on and updated;

— notes that the issues identified by the Commission as challenges for the future of both the EU and the ORs — climate change, demographic change and the management of migratory flows, maritime policy and agriculture — are matters of enormous importance, are priorities for the European and world agendas and have a significant impact on the different EU regions;

— wishes, however, to point out that the Community strategy for the ORs identified by the Commission in its communication of May 2004 was based on a global and coherent approach, aimed at mainstreaming into all Community policies the strategy's three objectives — improving internal and external accessibility, making the local economic fabric more competitive and strengthening the regions' integration into the surrounding geographical area;

— calls on the Commission to take the specific features of the ORs into account in the context of the forthcoming CAP Health Check and any future reforms embarked upon, maintaining their exceptions in terms of decoupling and modulation, and ensuring that sufficient budgetary resources are earmarked for their farming activities;

— asks the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to adopt measures to offset the detrimental effects of including air transport in the emissions trading scheme, in order to take account of the specific situation of the ORs;

Rapporteur : Mr Paulino Rivero BAUTE, President of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, (ES/ALDE)

Reference document

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Strategy for the Outermost Regions: Achievements and Future Prospects

COM(2007) 507 final

Policy recommendations

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

1. The seven outermost regions — the Azores, the Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Madeira, Martinique and Réunion — are full members of the European Union but also find themselves in a unique and special situation quite different to that of other regions within the Community;

2. this situation is characterised by the combination of a series of constant factors, in particular their remoteness, small size and economic dependence on a few products, which are the causes of the isolation and vulnerability afflicting these regions, as recognised in Article 299(2) of the EC Treaty;

3. these factors result in additional costs and present particular obstacles to the growth, convergence and economic sustainability of these regions, which prevents them from participating fully in the dynamics of the internal market, limits the opportunities available to their residents and reduces the competitiveness of their industries;

4. the ORs are also an asset to the European Union. Owing to their geographical location, they could become strategically important platforms on which to develop the role that the European Union wishes to play in the world;

5. these factors fully justify special treatment in the implementation of Community policies, so that the specific needs of these regions can be met and their capacity for locally-generated development increased;

6. support should thus be given to the calls made by the ORs and their national authorities, to consolidate, enrich, build on and update the coherent overall strategy to be implemented for these regions, resulting in a genuine Community policy for the Ors;

General comments of the Committee of the Regions

The specific treatment of the outermost regions: a coherent overall development strategy for these regions: broadly positive but with much still to be done

7. welcomes the fact that, since 1986, the European Commission has taken the initiative of establishing an appropriate framework for implementing Community legislation and the common policies on these regions on the basis of the Programmes of Options specific to the remote and insular nature of the outermost regions (POSEI);

8. recalls that the adoption of a specific article in the Treaty (Article 299(2)), to take account of the situation of the Union's outermost regions, addressed a series of specific aims, namely: — to confirm the unique nature of the ORs and the need to mainstream this into all the Union's policies, in particular by maintaining the priority assistance granted under the structural policy for economic and social cohesion; — to adapt Community policies to the true situation in the regions by implementing specific measures and by laying down special conditions for the application of the Treaty when necessary for the development of these regions; — to take account of the geographical environment of the Ors in the context of the EU's relations with neighbouring third countries;

9. recalls, therefore, the satisfaction expressed by the Committee at the adoption of the European Commission report of 14 March 2000 on measures to implement Article 299(2) of the Treaty, which sought to ensure a ‘quantum leap’ in the Community's approach to the Ors and which would launch a crucial new stage in defining a coherent overall policy for the sustainable development of the ORs;

10. recalls that the conclusions of the Seville European Council of June 2002 set out the need to press ahead with the implementation of Article 299(2) of the Treaty and to submit suitable proposals for the special needs of the Ors to be taken into account through the various common policies, in particular transport policy, and in the reform of some of these policies, in particular regional policy; the Committee would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the commitment given by the Commission to submit a new report on these regions based on a global, coherent approach to the special characteristics of these regions and to ways of addressing them;

11. thus expresses its satisfaction at the adoption, on 26 May 2004, of the Commission Communication A stronger partnership for the outermost regions and of the Commission report A stronger partnership strengthened for the outermost regions: assessment and prospects, on 6 August 2004. The Committee notes the recognition given to the unique situation of the ORs, which fully justifies special treatment in the various Community policies, although the Commission proposal only partially and, therefore, inadequately fulfils the mandate given at the Seville European Council and the needs expressed by the regions and their States;

12. welcomes the Commission's willingness to present a progress report on its strategy for the ORs and the future prospects for this strategy in its communication entitled Strategy for the Outermost Regions: Achievements and Future Prospects and its appended working document assessing the progress of the OR strategy (SEC(2007) 1112);

13. considers that this strategy remains entirely valid and that, far from having run its course, should be continued, built on and updated. Proof of this is the fact that the status of the ORs has been enshrined in Article 299 of the recently adopted Treaty of Lisbon;

Towards the long-term consolidation of the coherent overall development strategy for the outermost regions: expanding and updating this strategy

14. firstly wishes to congratulate the Commission, as the new communication confirms its sensitivity towards the ORs, emphasising the need to recognise the specific characteristics of these regions and giving a commitment to continue the special attention it pays to these regions;

15. congratulates the Commission because, whilst acknowledging the need for the different Community policies to take account of the specific characteristics of the ORs, it also recognises the added value and the opportunities that these regions offer the EU in the global context;

16. notes that the assessment of the measures to build on the 2004 strategy is positive and that the way in which the key policies for developing the ORs have been revised and redefined is broadly satisfactory;

17. points out that the handicaps suffered by the ORs are permanent and common to all of them, regardless of their income levels, and that the problems facing these regions cannot simply be reduced to a matter of income but are rooted in a complex structural situation that profoundly affects the citizens of these regions and the competitiveness of their industries;

18. congratulates the European Commission on its desire to expand on each and every strand of the Community strategy for these regions by implementing additional measures and also on its desire to update and flesh out this strategy, adapting it to future global challenges; calls on the Commission to show the necessary consistency when drawing up proposals in these fields;

19. considers that the measures proposed by the Commission to be developed in the short term to reduce the accessibility deficit and to make the ORs more competitive are, broadly speaking, quite vague or do little more than offer guidelines for making more efficient use of the resources already allocated to these regions;

20. notes that the measures put forward for regional integration are more practical and useful, although they are inadequate and need to be complemented by others that help to ensure that the objective of integrating the ORs into their geographical surroundings is achieved in practice;

21. recalls that the ORs face the two-fold challenge of integrating both into the internal market and into their geographical surroundings. Their geo-strategic location also represents enormous potential for the EU and makes these regions key platforms from which the EU can launch its external action in those parts of the world;

22. congratulates the Commission on having started its work on fleshing out the Wider Neighbourhood Action Plan launched in its 2004 communication. The Committee notes, however, that efforts should continue to be made, in particular with regard to ensuring better coordination between the ERDF and the EDF, in order to achieve the aim of integrating the ORs into their geographical surroundings;

23. congratulates the Commission on the information it has given to the ORs as part of preparations for the EU's economic association agreements with the ACP countries. The Committee notes, however, that as negotiations currently stand, these agreements constitute an immediate threat to the ORs and that the opportunities they represent are long-term and even doubtful;

24. regrets that the Commission has not included practical proposals for measures to encourage SMEs in the ORs to invest externally, as it had announced it would, since this would help to better integrate these regions into their geographical surroundings;

25. notes that the issues identified by the Commission as challenges for the future of both the EU and the ORs and on which the Commission has launched a debate in its communication — climate change, demographic change and the management of migratory flows, maritime policy and agriculture — are matters of enormous importance, are priorities for the European and world agendas and have a significant impact on the different EU regions;

26. underlines that the impact might be even greater for the ORs which, due to their specific characteristics, are particularly fragile and vulnerable;

27. wishes, however, to point out that the Community strategy for the ORs identified by the Commission in its communication of May 2004 was based on a global and coherent approach, aimed at mainstreaming into all Community policies the strategy's three objectives — improving internal and external accessibility, making the local economic fabric more competitive and strengthening the regions' integration into the surrounding geographical area;

28. welcomes and agrees with the Commission's comment that the strategic approach adopted in Community action for the ORs is becoming increasingly cross-sectoral and that the contribution of all Community policies is crucial to the development of these regions and to their integration into the internal market;

29. reiterates the relevance and topical importance of the three strategic strands referred to above, which remain the fundamental strands of the Community's OR strategy and also insists that changes to the different Community policies should factor in and adapt to the economic situation at the time;

30. considers that the emergence of these new challenges and priorities on the European agenda and the revision of key policies such as the common agricultural policy, call for an assessment of the impact that these challenges and priorities could have on the three strands of the Community's OR strategy, with a view to providing a detailed analysis that would help to incorporate the specific situation of the ORs into the general discussion on how the EU should respond to these challenges;

31. stresses that the Commission should use the abovementioned method to assess the impact that the four areas identified could have on the three strands of the strategy and regrets, for example, the fact that the Commission has not taken sufficient account of this impact on a matter as fundamental and crucial to the ORs as air transport and has not proposed a more specific approach for these regions in its proposal for a Directive to include aviation activities in the scheme for emission allowance trading;

32. considers that the ORs have much to contribute in these four areas because these issues are of particular concern to them, due to their specific situation;

33. recalls that the ORs have a major maritime dimension, which gives the EU unrivalled opportunities in such spheres as innovation, research, the environment and biodiversity;

34. once again emphasises the need for an overall approach to the phenomenon of increasing migration, which has a particularly significant impact on the ORs, as the ‘live’ borders of the European Union. In this connection, the Committee wishes to highlight the conclusions of the conference on The role of regions and cities in managing migratory flows, held on 30 October 2007 in Adeje (Tenerife, Spain), and in particular, the need for greater involvement by the national and European authorities in managing this phenomenon, in sharing the financial burden and in assessing the impact of migration on the economic and social cohesion of the ORs;

35. with regard to the management of migratory flows, wishes to state that it is convinced of the fundamental importance of consolidating dialogue and cooperation with the countries of origin and transit; also wishes to point out that the local and regional bodies of the Outermost Regions have an important role to play in promoting this cooperation, because they can act as platforms for cooperation with neighbouring third countries, to this end, making use of the European Commission programmes; and in particular welcomes the pilot project for joint planning for territorial cooperation between the Outermost Regions and neighbouring third countries;

36. considers that action should be taken on the causes of illegal immigration by establishing an effective policy for legal immigration, combating the informal economy and addressing the problem of unaccompanied immigrant minors at source, by promoting education and employment;

37. agrees with the Commission on the need to address the huge challenges set by demographic pressure in fragmented neighbouring regions and stresses the need to promote, as soon as possible, studies of the implications for land-use planning, the labour market, education and training needs, and public services in these regions, proposing the appropriate measures where necessary;

38. agrees with the Commission that combating climate change and adapting to its effects pose a significant challenge for the ORs, given their geographical situation and their vulnerability; the specific measures required in this area to prevent a detrimental impact on accessibility, the economy and the inhabitants of these regions must be practical and effective;

39. agrees with the Commission that agriculture is a key factor in the economy of the Outermost Regions, which are handicapped by geographical and climatic disadvantages and thus considers that a forward-looking strategy should be drawn up to develop agriculture in these regions and thus tackle the challenges presented by tougher global competition;

40. considers that, because economic and social cohesion policy is the main instrument underpinning Community OR policy, it is particularly important to assess whether the issues opened up for discussion might have an effect on economic and social cohesion in these regions;

41. considers that the results of this assessment could make a useful contribution to the revision of post-2013 Community cohesion policy. They could also contribute to the Green Paper on territorial cohesion that the Commission plans to adopt in 2008;

42. thus takes the view that the new phase in developing the Community's OR strategy, which the Commission will launch when it concludes the consultation process, should incorporate these elements into its strategy in order to develop, build on and update it;

43. considers that the partnership between the ORs, their respective States and the European Commission should continue to play a key role in developing the long-term Community strategy for these regions;

44. wishes to state its firm conviction that the ORs still need the support of all Community policies in order to become more competitive and to continue the process of convergence in terms of economic development and of equal opportunities for their inhabitants in relation to the inhabitants of Europe's other regions;

45. lastly, wishes to express its support for the European Council, which should reaffirm and renew at the highest level the political commitment to the ORs and the need for rapid progress to be made on the Community strategy for these regions;

Conclusions and recommendations

46. urges the Commission to continue building on the 2004 OR strategy, implementing the measures announced in its communication and encouraging greater coherence and closer coordination between the different Community policies to ensure that the new phase of this strategy is truly global and coherent;

47. calls on the Commission to carry out a mid-term review that will help to gauge the strategy's impact on the economic development of the ORs that have abandoned the ‘convergence’ objective, and the impact of European funds on the actual convergence process for the remaining ORs;

48. asks the Commission, once it has evaluated the impact of the POSEI reforms that it will carry out in 2009, to propose relevant measures to guarantee appropriate support for traditional sectors in the ORs, which are essential to their economic viability;

49. calls on the Commission to take the specific features of the ORs into account in the context of the forthcoming CAP Health Check and any future reforms embarked upon, maintaining their exceptions in terms of decoupling and modulation, and ensuring that sufficient budgetary resources are earmarked for their farming activities;

50. urges the Commission to ensure greater protection of agricultural products from the outermost regions against the strong threats caused by the gradual liberalisation of imports into the EU, by adopting appropriate measures to prevent farming from being undermined in these regions due to the opening-up of the Community market;

51. calls on the Commission, in the forthcoming programming periods, to design specific rural development policies for the ORs and provide sufficient budgetary resources for these;

52. calls on the Commission to take account, without delay, of the specific characteristics of the ORs in current initiatives, with regard to the four issues opened up for discussion in the communication;

53. wishes to point out that the Outermost Regions clearly give the European Union a global maritime dimension and also form genuine natural laboratories for studying marine science. Considers, therefore, that priority measures should be taken swiftly in these regions to protect and enhance this potential;

54. asks the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to adopt measures to offset the detrimental effects of including air transport in the emissions trading scheme, in order to take account of the specific situation of the ORs;

55. reiterates that the ORs are entirely dependent on air transport for links both with the outside world and between the different islands, since there are no alternatives and given that the total quantity of CO2 emissions on the routes serving the ORs is negligible in relation to the EU's total emissions;

56. calls on the Commission to address the issues of demographic change and managing migratory flows separately. The Committee wishes to make it clear that these are two distinct and complex problems that affect the ORs particularly acutely and that each consequently warrants the utmost attention;

57. requires an urgent and focused approach in order to alleviate the tragic situation caused by the arrival of unaccompanied immigrant minors and national and European authorities are, therefore, asked to shoulder their responsibilities for managing this phenomenon and for sharing the financial burden;

58. asks the Commission to carry out an impact assessment of the aforementioned four issues covered by the discussion of the three strands of the Community OR strategy;

59. calls on the Commission to assess whether these four issues might have an impact on the economic and social cohesion of the ORs, bearing in mind that economic and social cohesion policy is the main instrument underpinning the Community strategy for these regions.