Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Commission Communication: First progress report on economic and social cohesion Conclusions and next steps"
Date: 2002-10-10
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU regional policy, Structural Funds, administrative formalities, economic and social cohesion, principle of subsidiarity, regional development

19.3.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 66/11

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Commission Communication: First progress
report on economic and social cohesion Conclusions and next steps’

(2003/C 66/03)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Commission Communication — First progress report on economic and social
cohesion (COM(2002) 46 final);

having regard to the Commission decision of 1 February 2002 to consult the Committee of the Regions
on this subject, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community;

having regard to the CoR Bureau decision of 6 February 2002 to issue an opinion on this subject and to
direct the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to its opinion of 14 November 2001 on the Second report on economic and social
cohesion (CdR 74/2001 fin) (1);

having regard to its opinion of 15 February 2001 on The structure and goals of European regional policy
in the context of enlargement and globalisation: opening of the debate (CdR 157/2000 fin) (2);

having regard to its opinion of 13 April 2000 on the 6th Periodic Report on the social and economic
situation and development of the regions of the European Union (CdR 388/1999 fin) (3);

having regard to the results of the seminar on the partnership principle organised by the Committee of
the Regions in Madeira on 10-11 January 2000 in the context of a series of seminars entitled
Implementation of the reform of the Structural Funds, 2000-2006 — the contribution of local and
regional authorities;

having regard to its opinion of 14 January 1999 on the European Spatial Development Perspective (CdR
266/98 fin) (4);

having regard to the draft opinion adopted by the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy on 24 June
2002 (CdR 101/2002 rev.), rapporteur: Mr d’Ambrosio (President of the Marche Region, Italy, PES),

adopted the following opinion at its 46th plenary session of 10 October 2002.

Part I: Situation and trends in the regions

The Committee of the Regions

1.1.
applauds the work of the Commission in drawing up
the First progress report on economic and social cohesion,
which provides an extensive and detailed overview of the
ongoing debate on the future of the EU’s cohesion policy;

1.2.
welcomes the results registered in recent years regard-
ing cohesion and the positive impact of EU regional policy on
strengthening economic and social cohesion within the whole
Community; also recalls that cohesion policy, as enshrined in
the Treaties,
is an instrument by which to achieve the
principles of solidarity, cooperation and redistribution and is a
cornerstone of integration of the EU’s peoples and territories;

1.3.
however underscores the uneven progress achieved in
the various regions of existing Member States and in particular
highlights that, although the level of income per capita has
risen in Member States, considerable regional disparities
remain, provoking grave concerns that the lagging regions will
become increasingly marginalised;

reiterates the point made in its opinion on the second
1.4.
report on cohesion, that the forthcoming enlargement will
exacerbate territorial imbalances within the EU, and therefore
highlights the need to pursue an economic, social and
territorial cohesion policy that addresses the economic effects
of globalisation and its consequences in terms of progressive
liberalisation of international trade;

( 1) OJ C 107, 3.5.2002, p. 27.
( 2) OJ C 148, 18.5.2001, p. 25.
( 3) OJ C 226, 8.8.2000, p. 30.
( 4) OJ C 93, 6.4.1999, p. 36.

1.5.
calls for a strengthening of the regional dimension in
cohesion policy as laid down in Article 158 of the Treaty,
which aims to promote the overall harmonious development
of the EU by reducing the disparities between the levels of
development of the various regions;

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1.6.
reaffirms that European regional policy should be
considered a horizontal policy whose aim is sustainable
development in which all the various sectoral policies must
converge,
in particular the Common Agricultural Policy,
transport and energy policies, competition, environment,
research and development policies, and innovation, education
and training policies;

2.3.
welcomes the Commission proposal to make initiatives
to develop lagging regions a priority, and agrees that a two-
speed policy should be avoided, since the disparities displayed
in these regions cannot be reduced to a simple division
between Member States and candidate countries;

1.7.
asks the Commission to make a concerted effort to
ensure that these policies take cohesion into account, in view
of its essential role in integrating the European Union’s peoples
and territories;

2.4.
calls on the Commission to make suitable provisions
for regions which no longer qualify for Objective 1 status,
either by phasing out aid — with a higher rate of phasing
out for regions disqualified due to the statistical effect of
enlargement — or by awarding these regions future Objective 2
status;

calls on the Commission to further develop territorial
1.8.
policies as a factor of development and, on the basis of the
ESDP and the work done in the CEMAT,
to encourage
initiatives designed to correct the imbalances of the ‘core-
periphery’ system by fostering cooperation between urban,
rural and peripheral areas in order to promote polycentric
development in the EU;

1.9.
as a consequence of applying the subsidiarity principle,
reaffirms the need for increased and more effective involve-
ment of Member States and regional and local authorities in
the framing of cohesion policies, without this leading to a re-
nationalisation of regional development policies;

1.10. moreover emphasises that the regional dimension
encourages the implementation of equal opportunities policies
for men and women and is an essential prerequisite for
effective economic and social cohesion.

Part II: Developing the debate

The Committee of the Regions

2.1.
notes that the Commission considers the threshold of
0.45 % of Community GDP reserved for cohesion policy as
the minimum level of funding, and stresses that the new
regional policy must be founded on a closer correlation
between initiatives promoting regional development and the
required financial resources;

2.5.
notes that, contrary to what was stated in the second
report on cohesion, the first progress report does not tackle the
issue of Objective 2 regions, and underscores that maintaining
Community aid in ‘non-lagging regions’ is justified both by the
persistent economic development and reconversion problems
in many regions and by the fact that the Structural Funds are
an essential instrument in supporting regional development
potential in the whole EU, representing crucial added value;

reconfirms its support for the Commission’s approach
2.6.
as laid down in the second report on cohesion, which states
that the aim of the new Objective 2 is to correct specific
territorial imbalances; moreover believes that, in drafting the
future regional policy, particular attention should be focused
on regions with permanent geographical handicaps;

invites the Commission to devise ways of integrating
2.7.
the various funds and initiatives targeting ‘non-lagging regions’
in order, on the basis of current experience,
to promote
structural development strategies (transport, communications,
water and energy networks, research and technological devel-
opment) and maximise local resources (human, natural, cul-
tural and social), while leaving the regions and other competent
tiers of authority the power to decide on the territorial and
thematic allocation of aid once the general criterion for
distributing funding between countries and regions has been
applied, taking into account the present levels of allocation;
and calls, more generally, for the portion of the Structural
Funds total allocated to the new Objective 2 to be no less than
that for the current programming period;

2.2.
advises maintaining the current rules for eligibility of
lagging regions, in particular the threshold for income per
capita to qualify for Objective 1 status (75 % of EU average
income per capita). However the Committee of the Regions
calls on the European Commission to consider introducing
additional complementary criteria to reflect particular situ-
ations;

suggests that in such areas, Commission action should
2.8.
be focused on activating resources targeting specific phenom-
ena, with funding that is commensurate with the extent of the
problem, and promoting, in sectors where this is possible,
cross-border, trans-national and inter-regional cooperation,
the priorities for action as identified
taking account of
by regional governments and compatible with Community
objectives;

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2.9.
reaffirms its position as detailed in the CoR opinion on
the second report on cohesion concerning the need to
integrate the various intervention instruments used at present
(Objective 2, 3 and so on), whilst retaining the regional focus;

2.10.
emphasises the need to step-up cross-border, trans-
national and inter-regional cooperation as a practical instru-
ment not only for regional policy but also for more balanced
development of the whole EU area. Moreover, upon enlarge-
ment, particular attention should be devoted to cooperation
with regions outside Community borders. On the basis that
trans-national cooperation generates substantial European
added value, all EU measures should allow scope for trans-
forming local and regional development projects into trans-
national cooperation, where desirable;

urges the Commission to take more decisive steps to
2.11.
simplify procedures which, with a view to real subsidiarity and
in line with the partnership principle, should lead to a
differentiation of roles between the Commission (setting
general principles and providing technical support to achieve
them) and Member States in their various forms (fund manage-
ment and programming);

Brussels, 10 October 2002.

calls on the Commission to strive for more cogent
2.12.
and efficient coordination of
the various instruments for
structural funding (ERDF, EAGGF and ESF) which should focus
on coherent, integrated policies for developing economic and
social cohesion in the regions;

2.13.
stresses how important it is that all sectoral policies
with a strong regional impact, as well as competition and
taxation policies, should contribute to the objective of cohesion
and, in particular concerning regional aid and in the prospect
of enlargement, invites the Commission to:

a)

assess the possibility of maintaining the areas within the
EU-15 currently covered by ex-Article 87.3 (a) and (c) of
the Treaty, in order to prevent further disparities;

b)

encourage the simplification of procedures for granting
regional aid.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE