WRITTEN QUESTION E-3342/97 by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL) and María Sornosa Martínez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (22 October 1997)

Subject: Statements made by the Director-General for Regional Policy, Mr Landáburu, on the exclusion of the Canaries as an Objective 1 region

Recently, during a conference on Europe and local authorities held by the Spanish Federation of Municipal and Regional Authorities (FEMP), the European Commission's Director-General for Regional Policy said that the Canaries might lose their status as an Objective 1 region next year.

He based his statement on the fact that the GDP of the Canaries would rise above 75% of the Community average, set as the ceiling for Objective 1 regions in Council Regulation 2081/93 ((OJ L 193, 31.7.1993, p. 5. )).

Mr Landáburu said that the regions which may be excluded from Objective 1 (the Canaries, Cantabria and the Region of Valencia) would be given a 'generous' transitional period to allow them to adjust 'smoothly to the new situation'. During this period they would continue to receive funding, but less and less.

However, Article 8 of the above-mentioned Regulation 2081/93 includes the Canaries under Objective 1 because of their remote location, in the same way as the Azores, Madeira and the French overseas departments, not because their GDP is below the Community average.

Does this mean that the Commission intends to amend Article 8, deleting the reference to the Canaries, if they exceed 75% of Community GDP in the near future?

Has the Commission assessed the need to take account of the special characteristics of the islands in order to keep them under Objective 1 and the wording of Article 227(1) of the Treaty of Amsterdam on the outermost regions?

What would the programme of 'generous transition' for the exclusion of the Objective 1 regions consist of and how much would Community funding for the islands be reduced if they were excluded from Objective 1?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (13 November 1997)

The Commission plans to propose new structural Regulations at the beginning of 1998. The article concerning Objective 1, Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 on the tasks of the Structural Funds and their effectiveness and on coordination of their activities between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments, as amended ((OJ L 193, 31.7.1993. )), will then be replaced by a new article based on the guidelines given in the Agenda 2000 communication ((COM(97) 2000 final. )), in particular the statement that the outermost regions, to which the Canary Islands belong, are to be eligible under Objective 1.

By proposing that the outermost regions should be eligible under Objective 1 for the next programming period irrespective of their per capita gross domestic product (GDP), the Commission is taking account of the many specific and permanent handicaps with which these regions are confronted.

The Commission can confirm that the transitional provisions it will propose for those regions which are currently eligible under Objective 1 but which will soon cease to be so will involve generous long-term assistance, the exact details of which will be laid down in the proposals for new Regulations on the Structural Funds.