WRITTEN QUESTION E-3753/00

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

(4 December 2000)

Subject: The European Spatial Development Perspective and the Structural Funds

At the informal Council of Ministers responsible for spatial planning held in Potsdam in May 1999, the Member States and the Commission adopted a document on a European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP; currently known as European Spatial Strategy or ESS), embodying a strategic vision of spatial planning at Community level and incorporating perspectives in this area with a view to EU enlargement.

Can the Commission provide information on the implementation of the ESDP to date, with particular reference to the guidelines and to the application of the action plan adopted by the Commission and the Member States in October 1999 in Tampere?

Can the Commission state whether the ESDP has been taken into account in the preparation of the guidelines for the various Structural Funds and Community initiatives for the programming period 2000-2006?

Should the above be the case:

- can the Commission state to what extent the ESDP has been and will continue to be taken into account in the preparation of the guidelines for the Structural Funds and in the adoption of the documents concerning programming and specific projects for the programming period 2000-2006?

- can the Commission state to what extent the ESDP has been and will continue to be taken into account in the preparation of the guidelines for the URBAN Community initiative and in the adoption of the documents concerning programming and specific projects for the programming period 2000-2006?

- can the Commission state to what extent the ESDP has been and will continue to be taken into account in the preparation of the guidelines for the Interreg Community initiative and in the adoption of the documents concerning programming and specific projects for the programming period 2000-2006?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(9 February 2001)

The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) action programme was decided in October 1999 at the Tampere informal meeting of ministers responsible for regional development planning. The programme comprises three guidelines defining twelve actions which the Commission and the Member States are committed to implementing.

Practical shape will soon be given to two of the six actions planned under the first guideline, which concerns promoting the spatial dimension in policies at Community and national level. The first action relates to publishing, by the beginning of 2001, a final report on the spatial impact of Community policies as regards agriculture, the environment and transport. The second relates to cooperation on urban policies within the Community. The conclusions of a report concerning a multiannual programme were discussed at the conference on Europe's cities and regions held in Lille on 3 November 2000, and the work programme for the coming period is still due to be discussed with Member States.

Under the second guideline which concerns improving knowledge, research and information on spatial development four actions have already been launched on: cooperating with the European Spatial Planning Observatory Network (ESPON); producing ESDP-based geography textbooks for secondary schools; the future regions of Europe trophy; publishing, in spring 2002, a guide to integrated strategies for coastal areas.

The third guideline, which concerns preparing the Community for enlargement, includes examining the spatial impact of enlargement on Member States and non-member countries. This has been done within the framework of the second report on economic and social cohesion, which was adopted by the Commission on 31 January and which will be presented at a forum in Brussels on 21 May.

The Commission has generally accorded the ESDP special attention within the framework of regional policy. The ESDP objectives are among the Community priorities which the Commission adopted for the Structural Funds' 2000-2006 programming period, and strand B (transnational cooperation) of the Community Initiative Interreg III is designed to implement the ESDP objectives.

The Commission will start evaluating implementation of the ESDP guidelines with regard to the Structural Funds and the Community Initiatives Interreg and Urban once all programming has been adopted. The evaluation will form part of two communications in 2001 on the results of negotiations on Objective 1 and 2 programmes, which will be sent to Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions.