Communication from the Commission on a stronger partnership strengthened for the outermost regions: assessment and prospects (COM (2004) 343 Communication of the Commission of 26 May 2004) {SEC(2004)1030}
Date: 2004-08-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU activity, economic and social cohesion, peripheral region, report, socioeconomic conditions, structural policy

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 6.8.2004 
COM(2004) 543 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  

on a stronger partnership strengthened for the outermost regions: assessment and 
prospects (COM (2004) 343 Communication of the Commission of 26 May 2004)  

{SEC(2004)1030} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  

on a stronger partnership strengthened for the outermost regions: assessment and 
prospects (COM (2004) 343 Communication of the Commission of 26 May 2004)  

The  European  Council  of  Seville  asked  the  Commission  to  submit  a  report  containing  an 
overall  and  coherent  assessment  of  the  characteristics  which  affect  the  situation  of  the 
outermost  regions  and  of  the  corresponding  means  of  redress,  by  deepening  the 
implementation of Article 299 (2) of the treaty.  

The Commission responded to this request by adopting on 26 May 20041, a communication 
on  a  stronger  partnership  for  the  outermost  regions.  On  the  same  occasion  the  Commission 
undertook  to  present  in  a  report  both  a  detailed  assessment  and  evaluation  of  the  measures 
adopted with regard to the outermost regions since 2000 – the year in which the last synthesis 
report  of  the  Commission  on  the  subject  was  published.  The  report  attached  to  this 
communication  as  a  Commission  staff  working  paper  fulfils  this  undertaking  The  report  is 
divided into parts – namely assessment and prospects.  

The  assessment  provides  an  analysis  of  the  recent  data  concerning  the  socio-economic 
development  of  the  outermost  regions,  illustrating  the  progress  achieved  and  the  challenges 
still  confronting  them.  It  also  describes  the  working  of  e  structural  instruments  and  of  the 
various Community policies which have played a significant role for three years. This part is 
divided  into  chapters  for  each  Community  policy  concerned:  regional  and  cohesion  policy, 
competition, agriculture, fisheries, enterprise policy, transport, energy, research, information 
society,  taxation  and  custom  policy,  environment,  international  trade  and  justice  and  home 
affairs.  

The prospects section of the report refocuses upon the strategy adopted by the Commission on 
26  May  2004,  describing  the  three  priorities  for  action  pinpointed  by  the  Commission.  It 
should be borne in mind that this part of the report introduces no new measure in terms of the 
Communication adopted on 26 May 2004.  

The three priorities selected are:  

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

lessening  the  handicaps  caused  by  reduced  accessibility  and  compensating  other 
constraints specific to the outermost regions.  

improving the general conditions of competitiveness of their economies, particularly 
within the spirit of the Lisbon and Gothenburg strategies.  

inclusion  in  the  regional  area:  the  aim  is  to  enlarge  the  natural  area  of  socio-
economic  and  cultural  influence  of  the  outermost  regions  by  reducing  the  barriers 
restricting trade within the geographical environment of these regions.  

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COM (2004) 343 final of 26.5.2004 

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The development strategy for outermost regions is a component within the framework of the 
reform  of  cohesion  policy  for  the  2007-20132  programming  period.  It  also  includes 
recommendations on the implementation of other Community policies in these regions.  

In  providing  both  the  detailed  assessment  of  the  measures  adopted  with  regard  to  the 
outermost  regions  and  a  description  of  the  contents  of  the  strategy  adopted  by  the 
Commission,  the  report  constitutes  an  essential  additional  element  to  the  Commission 
communication of  26 May  2004, thus  meeting fully the request of the European Council of 
Seville. 

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COM(2004) 492, 493, 494 et 495 final of 14 July 2004 

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