Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on "Extending the trans-European networks to the islands of Europe"
Date: 2002-04-25
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European Union, common transport policy, island, trans-European network, transport network

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Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on ‘Extending the trans-European networks to
the islands of Europe’

(2002/C 149/14)

On 31 May 2001 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of its Rules of Procedure,
decided to draw up an opinion on ‘Extending the trans-European networks to the islands of Europe’.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 5 April 2002. The rapporteur
was Mr Vassilaras.

At its 390th plenary session (meeting of 25 April 2002), the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion by 81 votes to two with 14 abstentions.

1.

Foreword

e)

regional policy (which will be reviewed after 2006);

The Economic and Social Committee has instructed
1.1.
its Section for Transport, Energy,
Infrastructure and the
Information Society to draw up an additional own-initiative
opinion which will provide a useful study of one of the major
problem areas affecting the EU’s islands — the absence of a
development policy and network links. The Committee’s aim
is to make the Council and the Commission aware of the need
for a new approach in their policy towards islands. In the wake
of the Nice Treaty — when adopted — and the Nice Council
conclusions, such an approach should endeavour firstly to
alleviate the problems of isolation and underdevelopment
facing these islands and secondly to ensure fair treatment for
their populations with regard to development.

The Committee considers that

1.2.
the trans-European
networks must provide a link with islands and extend as far as
them instead of stopping at the continental coastline, and that
account must be taken of the following factors:

f)

the present situation regarding competition and globalisa-
tion;

g)

the reports regularly submitted by the Commission;

h)

the 2001 White Paper on Transport (1); and

i)

the 2001 TEN-T review (2).

1.3.
The Committee considers from the outset that the
Community will not function properly as a single area unless
the following basic principles are respected:

a)

b)

the internal market and the rules governing equal treat-
ment must extend to the whole of the Union;

development must compensate for permanent geographi-
cal handicaps.

a)

the legal basis provided by Article 158 of the Treaty of
Amsterdam (see Appendix 1);

2.

Introduction

b)

declaration No 30 annexed to the final act of Amsterdam
(see Appendix 1);

2.1.
An important decision for the future of the EU’s islands
was taken at Nice in December 2000 when the Treaty was
revised.

c)

the future enlargement of the EU;

d)

the Cohesion Fund (which has been reviewed for the
period 2000-2006);

(1) White Paper COM(2001) 370, 12.9.2001.
(2) Decision No 1346/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 22 May 2001 amending Decision No 1692/96/EC
as regards seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals as well
as project No 8 in Annex III OJ L 185, 6.7.2001, p. 1. ESC
Opinion: OJ C 214, 10.7.1998, p. 40.

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2.2.
The conclusions of the Nice Council recognise — and
this is a first in the history of EU regional policy — that in
view of islands’ structural problems, specific measures can be
taken by the EU to help them.

their counterparts from the European mainland or the Member
States, does not grant them any preferential treatment on
(An objective 1+ could
account of
possibly remedy this.)

their specific nature.

The Committee thinks that

2.3.
compensate for
resulting from these inherent structural difficulties.

these measures must
the geographical and natural handicaps

2.4.
This declaration elucidates the grey areas surrounding
Article 158 of the Amsterdam Treaty while at the same time
being consistent with declaration No 30 under that Treaty
concerning island regions and the difficulties they suffer as a
result of their structural problems. The least favoured island
regions covered by Article 158 of the Treaty of Amsterdam
share certain problems, and the Committee has underlined on
several occasions in previous opinions (1) that this calls for
specific measures, regardless of the islands’ size.

2.5.
In addition, mention must be made of the amendment
to the third paragraph of Article 159, which now reads: ‘If
specific actions prove necessary outside the Funds and without
prejudice to the measures decided upon within the framework
of other Community policies, such actions may be adopted by
the Council acting in accordance with the procedure referred
to in Article 251 and after consulting the Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions.’

3.2.
A definition of ‘European island’ has been adopted at
the initiative of Eurostat. This definition seems to be gradually
gaining hold and states that an island is any territory that

— is permanently surrounded by sea,

— is permanently separated from the mainland without a

fixed link (bridge, tunnel, etc.),

— is more than one kilometre from the mainland,

— has a permanent population of at least 50 people,

— does not contain the capital of a Member State.

European islands cover a total area of 110 000 km2
3.3.
(3,4 % of the EU territory) and have almost 14 million
the EU population). Despite their
inhabitants (3,4 % of
differences in size and population, they share a large number
of problems, especially of an economic and social kind, which
often differ only in intensity.

3.4.

These difficulties include:

— their networks in general, regardless of whether these
is a special

concern transport
problem), energy, telecommunications or water supply;

(where the high cost

2.6.
The Committee is therefore involved in these measures
and thinks that it is necessary to continue in the same vein by
submitting proposals and identifying the measures required to
ensure that suitable EU policies are adopted to address the
structural problems facing islands.

— the policy to be pursued to prevent a population exodus,

especially among young people;

— the development of SMEs and the craft sector and their

competitiveness;

3. General comments

Despite considerable efforts in recent years (often with
3.1.
EU support), islands still lag behind in their development and
a good number of them are even stagnating. The reason for
this is that even objective 1, which lumps them together with

— health care and access to preventive medicine as well as

emergency care;

— culture and education;

— a fragile environment which is expensive to manage;

— the dominance of one given sector of the economy (often

tourism or fishing);

— the seasonal nature of employment in the tourist and

agricultural sectors.

(1) Opinion on Disadvantaged island regions (OJ C 232, 31.8.1987).
Opinion on the Guidelines for integrated actions on the island
regions of the European Union following the Amsterdam Treaty
(Article 158) (OJ C 268, 19.9.2000).

Together, these problems create difficult living con-
3.4.1.
ditions for islanders to a point where the demographic and
social balance of most of these communities is under threat.

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3.5.
The Committee thinks that a system of networks is
necessary for the competitiveness and development of the EU’s
islands and to bring them into the single market. All the
prerequisites must be fulfilled for ensuring that islands and
especially the most remote amongst them are fully integrated
into the single market and are not split up into an array of
local markets on account of the inadequacy and extra cost of
transport and communication networks. Transport, energy,
telecommunications, water supply and waste disposal are all
of capital importance for the development of islands. Their
inhabitants are calling for better living conditions, which in
turn depend on economic development and employment. EU
policy measures must serve this end, regardless of the areas
concerned or human potential factors.

this fact and recognise that specific measures can be taken to
help island regions, as provided for under Article 89 of the
Treaty establishing the European Community.

Instead of invoking Community regulations in a bid to
4.3.
prohibit aid from the Member States, such aid could be
redesignated as EU aid in order to reduce the disparities
of which island regions are victims, thereby giving their
populations the satisfaction of enjoying the same conditions
as mainland regions, which are easily able to attract infrastruc-
ture and share in development.

3.6.
The Committee thinks that it is necessary to adapt the
general budget of the EU by revamping the Structural Funds
and the Cohesion Fund in order to provide the resources
needed to implement EU actions, initiatives and programmes
after 2006.

4.4.
The liberalisation of the seas certainly accords with the
concept of the common market, but the results achieved in
the post-liberalisation era in the field of maritime cabotage are
disappointing insofar as the providers of such services —
especially if they belong to the private sector — give preference
to profitable lines and neglect the less profitable islands,
thereby hastening their decline.

4. Specific comments on EU and Member State policies

towards networks

5. The public service concept in relation to islands

One point which the Committee would highlight form
4.1.
the start is that islands do not enjoy rail or road links with the
rest of the Community and that their inhabitants and business-
es depend 100 % on sea and air transport. The major hubs of
economic development and the regions on the European
mainland benefit more readily from regional policy, and it is
here that work and better living conditions are to be found. It
is also thanks to regional policy that mainland regions have
motorways and high-speed train networks and have been able
to build or modernise airports, and it will clearly be easier to
develop the different types of networks in mainland than in
island regions. No matter how admirable islanders’ unanimous
wish to work together and share in development may be, their
decline will be inevitable as long as new legislation has not
been enacted and there is little concern to extend the networks
to them.

4.2.
Existing legislation and the rules governing compe-
tition (Article 88(3)) do not give islands the same opportunities
to develop as other regions. The Nice summit conclusions
clearly show that Europe’s political leaders have taken note of

5.1.

Public service and networks

5.1.1.
As far as the supply of network services is concerned,
the Committee considers that there is no doubt that only
public services are able to cater for the needs of islands, for a
good many islands are not large enough to be a worthwhile
proposition for private stakeholders and do not attract their
interest either. Local administrations are also willing to per-
form all development-related tasks.

5.1.2.
Islands are still not attractive enough for the private
sector. Careful thought must therefore be given to the public
service concept in relation to islands, sine the keener compe-
tition in the single market is generating new imbalances. This
concerns island transport first and foremost. The liberalisation
of transport, the abolition of monopolies and EU-wide ten-
dering are of general benefit to the EU economy and the single
market. However, as far as island regions are concerned, the
single market is often still an abstract concept.

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5.1.3.
Current Community legislation explicitly recognises
islands as a special case, and makes provision for a variety
of mechanisms (public service obligations, public service
contracts) in relation to island links. The different tendering
systems introduced in islands in recent years — quite apart
from involving complex procedures — still do not generate
real competition (often there is only one tenderer) or significant
price cuts. Practice also shows that tenders fail to take sufficient
account of employment criteria and the economic knock-on
effects on islands.

5.1.4.
‘Territorial links’ should therefore be provided every-
where. Existing links should be strengthened and the building
of new links should be facilitated.

5.1.5.
The additional costs associated with island transport
vary considerably depending on the goods being transported
and how they are transported. Their economic or social impact
clearly varies in line with the market value of the product
being imported or exported. Any policy of compensation
would therefore gain from being adapted to the level of the
problems faced.

transport

5.1.6.
Even if the EU authorises aid schemes, it does so only
for trade within Member States. However, the problem of
accessibility to the single market extends beyond the national
framework for numerous islands which have sea borders with
several Member States (e.g. Corsica has borders with Italy)
and even more so for the outermost
islands with their
intercontinental
links to the single Community
market. Limiting such aid to trade with the national mainland
seems in this respect to be discriminatory and contrary to the
whole spirit of the Treaty. The recent derogation granted to
Bornholm and allowing aid to be granted for transport
operations to Copenhagen via Sweden is a move in the right
direction and should be applied across-the-board. Community
legislation must explicitly allow the provisions applicable to
national links regarding public service obligations and public
service contacts to be applied to all intra-Community links.

The Committee therefore recommends that the Com-
5.1.7.
munity rules on State aid for regions be amended in the light
of each island’s specific case, and that all of the EU’s islands be
eligible for operating aid (up to a limit set by the real additional
cost of transport), which should be paid directly to transport
enterprises for the purpose of reducing their additional trans-
port costs with regard to both goods and passengers.

5.1.8.
In the case of the Mediterranean islands, this aid
should cover trade with all Member States in the Mediterranean
area, though it should be limited to the extra cost of transport
to and from the national mainland.

5.1.9.
In the case of the outermost islands, where interconti-
nental transport and not EU cabotage is involved, this aid
should apply to trade with anywhere in the Community and
not simply national mainland ports. This would give these
regions direct access, in optimum conditions, to the major
centres of production and consumption at the heart of the EU,
thereby providing legitimate compensation for the drastic
constraints imposed on these islands by their extreme remote-
ness.

Regardless of the funding required for such a policy,
5.1.10.
the reform of State aid schemes is therefore vital for solving
the problem of the extra transport costs faced by islands.

5.1.11.
Islands’ transport costs are generally high. A large
number of taxes — national, regional and local — make
tariffs unduly expensive. The
passenger fares and freight
Committee calls for the abolition or reduction of dues charged
by seaports for their services so as not to penalise transport
operations to islands.

5.1.12.
The European Union wishes to harmonise all
the indirect taxes on transport. Island regions are directly
threatened by a number of factors:

a)

The Commission’s Transport White Paper describes the
Commission’s plan to apply throughout the Community
a system of charges for the use of infrastructure which
reflects the real cost of the infrastructure and also takes
account of external costs. Unless specific measures are
taken, this is likely to have a serious effect on island
regions. Firstly, in a large number of islands, the infra-
structure is of necessity too extensive for the limited
volume of traffic and questions may well be asked about
the criteria which the Commission will select to reflect
the actual cost situation. And secondly, air transport —
on which islands are heavily dependent both for their
inhabitants’ needs and for tourism — is considered to be
highly polluting and will therefore be particularly hard
hit by the inclusion of external costs. The framework
directive which the Commission plans to put forward in
2002 must therefore take into account island regions’
limited options and the economic and social implications
for islands of higher transport costs. The directive must
explicitly allow islands to enjoy appropriate tariffs for the
use of seaport and airport infrastructure.

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b)

c)

For the same reasons,
the plan to introduce fiscal
harmonisation for fuels used by sea and air carriers must
be examined with extreme caution so as to avoid an
increase in the cost of
island services. Appropriate
mechanisms must be implemented to encourage the use
of the most environmentally appropriate arrangements
or fuels without aggravating the problems of islands’
accessibility by increasing taxation.

5.2.4. With regard to islands, and especially the most
heavily populated islands with extensive trans-European net-
works comparable to the networks on the mainland in terms
of cost and quality, the Committee thinks that the Commission
should include shipping links with these islands in the basic
trans-European networks and focus on connecting the main
road, river and rail routes with the shipping links that serve
these islands.

Equally alarming is the Commission’s plan (Part Three,
Chapter II. B) to charge VAT on all air transport in the
Community. If the decision is taken to charge VAT on
Community air transport, all
island services must be
exempt.

5.3.

Energy

5.1.13.
The Committee would finally stress the need for
regular and uninterrupted public service provision for islands,
especially in the field of transport. This would involve the
application — as is already the case in certain Member States
— of minimum guaranteed service practices.

5.2. Trans-European transport networks

5.2.1.
The inclusion in the TEN-T provisions of ports and
airports ‘situated in island, peripheral or outermost regions,
interconnecting such regions by sea and/or connecting them
with the central regions of the Community’ is a positive factor
from the financial point of view, for improvements to port or
airport infrastructure can be financed as a result (1). However,
this does not mean that island or outermost regions are
included in arrangements for short-distance sea transport or,
for example, in plans for ‘motorways of the sea’.

5.2.2.
At the same time, the revised TEN-T priority projects
affect islands as little as their predecessors. In fact, much to the
Committee’s regret, they do not include any islands at all.

The White Paper on transport talks about developing
5.2.3.
‘motorways of the sea’ (2), pointing out that ‘intra-Community
maritime transport and inland waterway transport are two key
components of intermodality ’ and that ‘certain shipping links
should be made part of the trans-European network, just like
motorways or railways’. These ‘motorways of the sea’, which
are designed to bypass existing bottlenecks on road networks
(Pyrenees, Alps, etc.), should not overlook islands yet again. In
fact, they should provide islands with a real opportunity to
open up.

(1) Decision No 1346/2001/EC, 22.5.2001.
(2) White Paper COM(2001) 370 final, 12.9.2001, Part II, A.1, p. 42.

5.3.1. Meeting islands’ energy needs poses particular prob-
lems. This is due to the specific nature of supplies (inadequate,
costly and occasionally interrupted, especially in times of
crisis), the difficulty of linking up with national or trans-
European energy networks, and the high seasonal variations in
consumption caused by tourism.

5.3.2.
must include:

The Committee thinks that the measures to be taken

— the funding of the infrastructure work necessary to open
up islands and give them access to energy sources from
the mainland or, if need be, to export energy to networks
on the mainland;

— the promotion of renewable energy sources via economic
and tax incentives and of specific pilot projects in island
regions, especially those not linked to the trans-European
energy networks;

— in the case of islands which are not connected to the
continental grid and will not be in the near future and
which produce electricity at a higher cost
than on
the European mainland, the guarantee that tariffs will
continue to be subsidised is vital even when the electricity
market is opened up fully to competition. After all, who
is going to sell energy on small island markets and what
will
they charge? This system of subsidies must be
supported by a system of public regulation, which
covers both domestic and industrial prices and which
compensates for the lack of a level playing-field and
ensures optimum use of energy resources.

5.4. Waste

5.4.1. Waste treatment poses a serious environmental prob-
lem for islands, which is exacerbated by the part played by
tourism in the development of island economies. Priority must
be given to programmes for the recycling and reuse of solid
waste and the recuperation of energy from refuse.

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5.4.2. Metal casings, oil or cardboard boxes are never going
to be recycled in the near future on most European islands.
These bulky, heavy and sometimes dangerous objects have to
be exported by sea, the cost of which is additional to the cost
of the networks in mainland regions. Who has to pay the extra
cost? Residents? Tourists? Or the Community, which lays
down inappropriate safety or disposal rules for communities
of a few thousand inhabitants?

A system of compensation for shipping waste to the
5.4.3.
mainland, modelled on the legislation in force in Spain for the
Canary and Balearic islands, must be set up as part of a
European waste treatment network.

5.5. Water

5.5.1.
The question of water reserves and their treatment
and quality is directly linked to the development of island-
based tourism and the increase in water consumption which
this brings. Wherever possible, the links between islands
(archipelagos) and from the mainland to islands must receive
support, in recognition of the vital basic service they provide,
and water charges must be affordable.

5.5.2.
Seawater pollution is one of the most serious prob-
lems, as it affects the two mainstays of island economies —
tourism and fishing. For the sake of the islands’ development,
specific programmes are required for the storage of water, for
environmental checks on discharges in watercourses, for waste
management and for seawater desalination, etc.

5.6. Telecommunications

The establishment of telecommunications networks
5.6.1.
undoubtedly represents a priority objective for all underdevel-
oped regions and especially islands, even if the benefits of their
spread and development may have been overestimated. As
the second cohesion report shows, however, research- and
technology-based sectors and services and industries offering
a high added value continue to target the most dynamic
regions where both telecommunications-intensive applications
and the people best trained for these applications are to be
found. Furthermore, telecommunications do not come up
against the problems of physical access which complicate
passenger and goods transport.

tomorrow’s policies,

5.6.2.
Be this as it may, the promotion of telecommuni-
cations in all areas of island activity must also form an integral
for telecommunications can
part of
strengthen certain sectors of island economies which are of
capital importance for them. For instance, they can improve
the educational and training services on offer, facilitate access
to universities and research centres, satisfy needs in the
fields of health care, tourism, advertising, current affairs and
information, or diversify local economies thanks to the
development of e-commerce and entrepreneurial activity based
on electronic resources.

Telecommunications are the focus of widespread
5.6.3.
attention, but they are not well established on islands, for the
markets they serve are the ones also served by the traditional
areas of the economy. One of the priority fields of application
for islands must be to focus on the promotion of a cultural
identity, by improving islanders’ knowledge of their cultural
heritage and history and thereby enabling them to rediscover
their common roots and revive the exchanges which disap-
peared as a tradition with the onset of the industrial revolution.

5.6.4.
New telecommunications technologies must enable
islands to set up networks in order to further decentralisation
and engage in consolidation exercises. The problem at the
moment is not only a technical one but also concerns the
availability of know-how, i.e. the knowledge necessary to see
through a development linked to a whole host of services.
Given the small size of islands, there is only one solution:
namely, alliances must be forged in order to provide the new
services (media, culture, tourism) with a quality content.

5.6.5.
Recent mishaps in the distribution of regional local-
loop licences for high-speed digital data transmissions in
France (1) also point to another danger. Islands do not interest
private operators because their populations are too small to
make a profit on an investment and their markets are too
limited. Only a public service can provide islands with
guaranteed access to high-speed data. This experience shows
that the private telecommunications sector will not necessarily
be interested in island populations, who are in danger of being
bypassed by future technological developments.

(1) The operators selected by the Telecommunications Regulatory
Agency for the DOMs, Corsica and Auvergne (Siris, Completel,
Outremer Télécom) turned down their licences.

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6. Proposals

6.1.

Specific measures to extend the trans-European networks to
the EU’s islands

6.1.1.
The Committee proposes that support be given to
the establishment of transport systems based in particular on
high-speed ships which integrate islands into more open
markets than systems providing lifelines with national main-
lands. ‘Territorial links’ must be provided everywhere. They
must be EU-wide and not just national, linking islands to the
whole of the single market and not simply to national territory
on the mainland.

If the single market is not to remain an abstract
6.1.2.
concept in islands, compensation for additional transport costs
cannot be regarded as discriminatory and likely to distort the
operation of the market. Any policy for providing compen-
sation must therefore be adapted to the nature and intensity of
the problems encountered. Islands call for positive discrimi-
nation criteria to be applied to them.

The Commission itself remarks as follows in its
6.1.3.
White Paper on European transport policy for 2010:
‘Gen-
erally speaking, experience has shown that limited amounts of
aid have not threatened to distort competition or affect trade.
Nonetheless, and contrary to practice in the other economic
sectors, all aid to transport still has to be notified in advance
to the Commission. This general obligation seems dispro-
portionate, especially when the aid is intended to compensate
for public service obligations on links with the Community’s
outlying regions and small islands. The Commission will be
proposing an alignment of procedures in this area (1).’

6.1.4.
The Committee notes the Commission’s willingness
to adapt its procedures. It trusts that the terms ‘limited amounts
of aid’ and ‘small
islands’ will be interpreted as widely as
possible in the case of all islands, given their specific features
as recognised in the various texts dealing with islands.

6.1.6.
The Committee would like all European islands to
have access to a specific fund for fixed or mobile infrastructure
with regard to transport and every form of public network
(energy, telecommunications, water, waste).

It would also like all EU islands to be eligible for
6.1.7.
operational aid, to be paid directly to enterprises so as to
reduce the extra cost of transport for them. This operational
aid — which would cover both passenger and goods transport
— should provide a level playing-field with regard to real
costs.

6.1.8.
The Commission wishes to introduce full cost charg-
ing principles in transport (road, rail and sea). The Committee
would urge that all aspects of insularity be included in the
calculation of the price of transport (travelling time, price,
(see appended map). It
frequency,
would also like consideration to be given to social parameters,
given the importance of transport for employment, etc., on
islands.

loading/unloading, etc.)

6.1.9.
The Committee proposes that 2005 be declared
the European Year of Islands. To mark this occasion, the
Commission could assess the measures already taken to help
islands and use the reform of the Structural Funds and regional
policy to endorse a more ambitious policy.

6.2. Towards an integrated policy for the outermost island regions

and islands

6.2.1.
As an adjunct to the moves to develop the trans-
European networks, the Committee would like to draw the
Commission’s attention to the need to put
in place an
integrated policy which will positively discriminate in favour
of the outermost island regions and islands. Four measures
seem to be capable of fulfilling this general objective, which
must act as a framework for sectoral policies:

The Committee supports the proposal of the Cagliari
6.1.5.
conference calling on the Commission to promote a Com-
munity policy and Community legislation in support of
maritime transport which will connect the North Sea to the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea by inland waterways and
create ‘motorways of the sea’ in the Mediterranean.

a)

(1) White Paper COM(2001) 370 final, 12.9.2001, Part III, B. 3,

p. 84.

The meaning of Treaty Article 158 should be clarified to
reflect the spirit of declaration No 30 annexed to the final
act of Amsterdam and the conclusions of the Nice
European Council. This article should be strengthened by
adding specific references to the principle of territorial
cohesion and to the various regions with permanent
structural handicaps, such as thinly populated regions or
upland regions suffering from the same handicaps. The
European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) is a
modest step in this direction. The first progress report

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on economic and social cohesion (1) points to ‘the extent
of the Community territory comprising mountain, coastal
and maritime areas, islands and archipelagos’. The Com-
mittee thinks that it is necessary to go further.

mission should make a systematic effort to adopt an
‘inter-services’ approach or even set up a directorate-
general to oversee the policies concerning and affecting
islands and integrate their management.

b)

The reform of regional policy and especially of the
Structural Funds after 2006 should make provision for
the establishment of a specific financial instrument for
non-Objective 1 regions suffering from permanent geo-
graphical or demographic handicaps — including,
in
particular, islands. This financial instrument should —
inter alia — co-finance fixed or mobile transport infra-
forms of public networks (energy,
structure and all
telecommunications, water, waste). This reform will have
to take account of the consequences of enlargement for
the place of islands in regional policy.

c)

The proposals in the White Paper on governance (2)
should give greater recognition to islands. The Com-

(1) COM(2002) 46 final, p. 14.
(2) COM(2001) 428 final.

Brussels, 25 April 2002.

d)

Finally, the remote and outermost islands and regions
must be regarded as a central plank in the Community’s
policy towards bordering non-EU regions and an econ-
omic and social interface in a Europe looking out on the
world and not as a terminating point
for internal
networks.

The Economic and Social Committee thinks that this
6.2.2.
integrated approach, reinforced by national mechanisms for
the prior consultation of Member States whenever legislation
affects islands, would establish a true tripartite partnership
between island regions, States and the Commission.

6.2.3.
The Committee would like to help strengthen the
dialogue with island regions. As the representative of organised
civil society in the EU, it is ready to endorse and support any
initiative to this effect.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS