WRITTEN QUESTION E-3855/00

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Enlargement and regional policy: economic, social and territorial cohesion of the outer maritime regions of the EU cohesion.

In this context the European Parliament adopted a resolution in October this year (R5-0417/2000(1)) on the enlargement of the European Union, setting out the EP's requests with regard to the accession procedure and the negotiations being held on the subject. In paragraph 102 of the resolution the EP points out that the European Union must

respond appropriately to an enlargement which will increase considerably the number of disadvantaged regions; draws attention to the risk of uneven growth in the various regions of the applicant countries in the wake of both certain applicant states internal policies and the effects of the market and of investment by the Member States and, therefore, calls on the Commission to revise the criteria governing the award of structural aid with the aim of ensuring that both the applicant countries and the current Member States receive appropriate support for their disadvantaged regions; calls on the European Union to retain the cohesion criteria as they apply to the EU 15, regardless of any statistical changes in average income in the EU brought about by the enlargement.

Can the Council say to what extent it is taking this request into account in the accession procedure and its negotiations with the Luxembourg Group, particularly in the context of Chapter 21? Can the Council say what impact enlargement will have on the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the outer maritime regions under Objective 1 in the present EU 15?

What strategies, instruments and mechanisms does it consider appropriate and necessary to continue promoting the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Objective 1 peripheral maritime regions after the accession of countries with regions less developed than the current Objective 1 regions, which will tend to increase considerably the peripheral status of these regions and mean that they will cease, statistically although not actually, to fall into this category?

(1) Texts adopted of 4 October 2000, p. 1.

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3855/00 and E-3857/00

(8 March 2001)

With regard to the accession negotiations with Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia on Regional Policy, it has not yet been possible for the Union to take a position on a number of substantive issues, in particular regarding the Structural and Cohesion Funds. This is because the necessary information, in particular in the form of Community figures, is not yet available to decide on questions such as the eligibility of individual candidates for assistance from these Funds. As a result, such issues will have to be examined at a later stage of the negotiations. Consequently, the road map for the accession negotiations suggested by the Commission, and welcomed by the Council in its conclusions of 4 December 2000, provides for the Union to define, where appropriate, EU common positions on Regional Policy during the first half of 2002, including on outstanding substantive issues, with a view to the provisional closure of this chapter once the conditions are met.

As for Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria, with whom the Regional Policy chapter has not yet been opened, it should be recalled that the Feira European Council considered that it should be feasible to open negotiations in all areas of the acquis with the most advanced of these candidates as early as possible in 2001. As a result, the Swedish Presidency intends to open the Regional Policy chapter with Malta, Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania.

As is the case for all the chapters of the acquis under negotiation, the accession negotiations are carried out on the basis of the acquis in force. New acquis adopted before the conclusion of the negotiations will be taken into account as appropriate. As a result, the Council is unable to take a position, at this stage, on the other specific questions raised by the Honourable Parliamentarian. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the Council is keenly aware of the problems for social and economic cohesion raised by extending EU structural policies to new Member States, as has been underlined by the European Parliament.