Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication from the Commission — A stronger partnership for the outermost regions
Date: 2004-11-18
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU regional policy, economic and social cohesion, peripheral region, priority region

C 71/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.3.2005

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication from the Commission — A
stronger partnership for the outermost regions

(2005/C 71/10)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the Communication from the Commission: A stronger partnership for the outermost
regions - COM(2004) 343 final;

Having regard to the decision of the European Commission of 27 May 2004 to consult it on this subject
under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Communities;

Having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 10 February 2004 to instruct its Commission for Territorial
Cohesion Policy to draw up an opinion on this subject;

Having regard to Article 299(2) of the EC Treaty;

Having regard to Articles III-330 and 56(3)(a) of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe;

Having regard to the Commission report on the measures to implement Article 299(2). The outermost
regions of the European Union (1);

Having regard to its opinion (CdR 440/2000 fin) on The outermost regions of the EU and implementa-
tion of Article 299 (2);

Having regard to the conclusions of the Seville and Brussels European Councils of 21 and 22 June 2002,
and 17 and 18 June 2004 respectively;

Having regard to the joint memorandum from Spain, France, Portugal and from the outermost regions, of
2 June 2003;

Having regard to the final declarations of the Conferences of Presidents of Ponta Delgada, of 2 September
2004; of Martinique, of 30 October 2003; of La Palma, of 15 October 2002; of Lanzarote, of 25
September 2001, and of Funchal, of 31 March 2000;

Having regard to the European Parliament Resolution on the Commission Communication on the third
report on economic and social cohesion (3);

Having regard to its opinion on the third report on economic and social cohesion (CdR 120/2004 fin) (4);

Having regard to the European Commission report on A stronger partnership strengthened for the outer-
most regions: assessment and prospects, SEC(2004) 1030 final;

Having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 61/2004 rev. 1) adopted on 24 September 2004 by its Commis-
sion for Territorial Cohesion Policy (rapporteur: Mr Adan Martin Menis, President of the Canary Islands
Regional Government (ES/ELDR)).

(1) COM(2000) 147 final, of 14.3.2000
(2) OJ C 144, 16.5.2001, p. 11
(3) Text adopted by the EP on 22.4.2004
(4) Text adopted by the CoR on 17.6.2004

22.3.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 71/41

Whereas:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

the seven outermost regions – the Azores, the Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Madeira,
Martinique and Réunion – are full members of the European Union but also find themselves in a
unique and special situation quite different to that of other regions within the Community;

this situation is characterised by the permanence and combination of a series of handicaps, in par-
ticular their remoteness, small size and economic dependence on a few products, which are the
causes of the isolation and vulnerability afflicting these regions, as recognised in Article 299(2) of
the EC Treaty;

these factors result in additional costs and present particular obstacles to the growth, convergence
and economic sustainability of these regions, which prevents them from participating fully in the
dynamics of the internal market, limits the opportunities available to their residents and reduces the
competitiveness of their firms;

owing to their geographical location, the outermost regions could become strategically important
platforms on which to develop the role that the European Union wishes to play in the world;

these factors fully justify special treatment in the implementation of Community policies, so that the
specific needs of these regions can be met and their capacity for locally-generated development
increased;

support should thus be given to the calls made by the outermost regions and the national authorities
concerned for an overall and coherent strategy to be implemented for these regions and for it to be
provided with the necessary resources, resulting in a genuine Community policy for the outermost
regions;

adopted the following opinion at its 57th plenary session held on 17 and 18 November 2004
(meeting of 18 November).

1. General comments

— to take account of the geographical environment of the
outermost regions in the context of trade and cooperation
policy and the agreements with neighbouring countries;

The specific treatment of the outermost regions: broadly positive but
with much still to be done

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

that, since 1986,

1.1 welcomes the fact
the European
Commission has taken the initiative of establishing an appro-
priate framework for implementing Community legislation and
the common policies on these regions on the basis of the
Programmes of Options specific to the remote and insular
nature of the outermost regions (POSEI);

1.2
recalls that the adoption of a specific article in the
Treaty (Article 299(2)), to take account of the situation of the
Union's outermost regions addressed a series of specific aims,
namely:

— to confirm the unique nature of the outermost regions and
the need to mainstream this into all the Union's policies, in
particular by maintaining the priority assistance granted
under the structural policy for economic and social cohe-
sion;

— to adapt Community policies to the true situation in the
regions by implementing specific measures and by laying
down special conditions for the application of the Treaty
when necessary for the development of these regions;

1.3
considers that these objectives remain entirely valid and
that, far from having run their course, require ongoing action
by the Union. Their importance is demonstrated by the fact
that the status of the outermost regions has been enshrined in
Article III-330 of the draft European Constitutional Treaty;

recalls,

therefore,

1.4
the satisfaction expressed by the
Committee at the adoption of the European Commission report
of 14 March 2000, on measures to implement Article 299(2)
of the Treaty, which sought to ensure a ‘quantum leap’ in the
Community's approach to the outermost regions and which
would launch a crucial new stage in defining an overall and
coherent policy for the sustainable development of the outer-
most regions;

1.5
considers the measures adopted under the aforemen-
tioned report of 14 March 2000 to have been broadly positive,
but wishes to point out that the enlarged European Union
currently stands at a crucial point in its integration process and
faces a number of major challenges which require fundamental
changes to be made in the Institutions, in Community policies
and in the European economy;

C 71/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.3.2005

1.6
believes that, despite the positive aspects that have
been highlighted, these changes demonstrate the need to move
beyond the current approach and to take Community policy
on the outermost regions a stage further by defining a suitable
framework for these regions in the new European context; a
framework that will ensure their full participation in the new
Europe;

the conclusions of

the Committee recalls that

1.7
consequently thanks the European Council for having
always taken into account and supported the EU's outermost
regions;
the
Seville European Council of June 2002 set out the need to
press ahead with the implementation of Article 299(2) of the
Treaty and to submit suitable proposals for their special needs
to be taken into account through the various common policies,
in particular transport policy and in the reform of certain poli-
cies, in particular regional policy; the Committee would also
like to take this opportunity to highlight
the commitment
given by the Commission to submit a new report on these
regions based on a global, coherent approach to the special
characteristics of these regions and to ways of addressing them;

1.8
thus expresses its satisfaction at the adoption, on 26
May 2004, of the Commission Communication A stronger part-
nership for the outermost regions and of the Commission report A
stronger partnership strengthened for the outermost regions: assess-
ment and prospects, on 6 August 2004. It notes the Union's
desire to meet the specific needs of the regions and in particu-
lar its recognition of the unique situation of the outermost
regions, which fully justifies special treatment in the various
Community policies.

Towards an overall and coherent development policy for the outermost
regions

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

support a strategy being drawn up for regions facing geogra-
phical disadvantages, which identifies their particular features
and the appropriate instruments for addressing these problems;

the

three priorities

1.12 welcomes
identified by the
Commission – competitiveness, access and compensating for
integration – with a view to
other constraints, and regional
shaping the Community's strategy for the growth and conver-
gence of the outermost regions;

1.13
supports the European Commission's intention to
undertake further work on identifying and assessing the addi-
tional costs borne by the outermost regions, in order to deal
more effectively with all the handicaps arising from this situa-
tion;

1.14
notes, however, that the Commission proposal only
the Seville European
partially fulfils the mandate given at
Council and the needs expressed by the regions and their
States;

in particular,
the Commission's
1.15
emphasises,
assessment has not
resulted in a genuinely cross-sectoral
strategy for the outermost regions; a strategy that will mobilise
all Community policies and their resources in order to address
the unique situation of these regions in an appropriate manner;

that

1.16
regrets the fact that despite the willingness expressed
by the European Commission to implement the priorities it has
set out by means of both the cohesion policy and other Com-
munity policies, the Commission does not adequately specify
the resources that it intends to provide under these other poli-
cies, postponing this for later decisions or making it conditional
on further studies;

1.9
congratulates the European Commission first of all on
its proposal to consolidate its cooperation relations with the
outermost regions and its Conference of Presidents, which
demonstrates its willingness to incorporate the regional dimen-
sion into the process of Community integration;

notes that the European Commission has proposed
1.17
combining the application of
the general cohesion policy
framework to the outermost regions with the creation of two
specific instruments: a programme of compensation for the
particular constraints affecting the outermost regions and a
Wider Neighbourhood Action Plan;

1.10
notes the progress made by the Commission on
understanding the complex set of issues affecting the outermost
regions. It endorses the Commission's view that in terms of
development and integration the outermost regions still
lag
behind other European regions, and that some Community
policies drawn up with an overall EU picture in mind are inade-
quate, since they fail to take account of the specific characteris-
tics of the outermost regions;

1.18 welcomes the creation of the aforementioned specific
intended solely for the outermost regions and
instruments,
which seek to offset the handicaps arising from the special
situation of those regions. It notes, however, the lack of real
detail as regards the financial resources allocated to these
measures;

notes that European integration is based, amongst
1.11
other things, on respect
for diversity and for the specific
circumstances of all its territories as a means of achieving the
greatest progress for the Union. In particular, the CdR would

1.19
regrets the fact that the Commission has chosen not
to include all of these regions in the future convergence objec-
tive and reiterates that automatic eligibility for this objective is
the most appropriate way of addressing the structural handi-
caps of
these
regions continue to be treated even-handedly;

the outermost regions and of ensuring that

22.3.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 71/43

1.20
insists that the handicaps suffered by the outermost
regions are permanent and common to all of them, regardless
of their per capita GDP and recalls that the problems facing
these regions cannot simply be reduced to the matter of GDP;
instead,
they represent a complex structural situation that
profoundly affects the citizens of these regions and the compe-
titiveness of their firms;

consistent with the EU's external policy and development coop-
eration instruments, primarily the provisions of the Cotonou
Agreement, the Meda Programme and the ALA, and with all
Community initiatives and programmes that might be under-
taken with these regions in future;

notes that all the outermost regions, including those
1.21
where per capita GDP stands at 75 % of
the Community
average, still suffer from a lack of basic infrastructures and
from poor conditions for convergence and competitiveness,
which are necessary if the objectives of the Lisbon and Gothen-
burg strategies are to be met. The Committee considers that
they will not be able to pursue their convergence process
unless there is continuity in the actions undertaken under Euro-
pean regional policy from 2006 onwards, in an overall frame-
work adapted to their specific characteristics;

1.22
recalls that many of the opportunities for growth,
diversification and increased productivity available to the outer-
most regions centre on a few traditional sectors which present
real comparative advantages, on tourism, and on seeking other
alternative forms of production. The Committee therefore
believes that an effective strategy for modernisation, innovation
and development in the outermost regions must take account
of these activities;

1.23 welcomes the fact that under the new programmes
for ‘European territorial cooperation’ the outermost regions will
be eligible not only for transnational cooperation, but also for
cross-border cooperation. This is crucial to fulfilling the aim of
integrating the outermost regions into their geographical envir-
onment, as the Commission itself acknowledges;

1.24 welcomes the priority attached to improving relations
between the outermost regions and neighbouring third coun-
tries and to establishing a wider neighbourhood action plan to
assist the creation of an area of economic, social and cultural
growth and integration in these regions at the EU's borders,
although it regrets that the financial resources allocated to this
plan are not detailed;

considers that implementing a neighbourhood policy
1.25
for the outermost regions requires that adequate financial
resources be put in place so that these regions can play their
rightful role as the EU's active border and positively and mean-
ingfully complement Community action on combating poverty
and on protecting democratic values, respect for human rights
and the principles of the rule of law in their neighbouring
countries;

1.26
takes the view, however, that in order to achieve
these objectives, coordination is needed that is effective and

expresses its satisfaction at the Commission's inten-
1.27
tion to undertake an in-depth study of how services of general
interest work in the outermost regions and to have a working
group draw up any relevant suggestions;

1.28 welcomes the Commission's intention to take account
of the specific characteristics of the outermost regions in the
field of State aid;

1.29
states that regulations governing State aid, which were
designed to support and safeguard the workings of the internal
market, cannot be applied indiscriminately to aid granted to
firms located in these regions which, as the Commission itself
acknowledges, do not reap all the benefits of this single market;

1.30
regrets, consequently, that the Commission has not
chosen to include in Article 87(3)(a) all the outermost regions,
including those whose GDP exceeds 75 % of the Community
average. This would have been the most suitable solution for
addressing the structural handicaps affecting the outermost
regions and for ensuring that they are treated even-handedly;

1.31
considers in this regard, that including all the outer-
most regions in the new Article 56(3)(a) of the Constitutional
Treaty (ex-Article 87(3)(a)), clearly reveals the intention of the
European legislator and calls on the Commission, for the sake
of legal security, to revise its position in negotiations on the
guidelines on State aids for regional purposes and to round off
its proposal by including all outermost regions in this category;

1.32
also considers that the planned additional intensity of
aid, set at 10 percentage points, must be assessed in the light of
the proposals made by the Commission in its revision of the
guidelines on aids for regional purposes in order to determine
whether it will be adequate to ensure a policy that supports
investment in these regions;

1.33
believes, in view of all the above considerations, that
the European Commission is not fully meeting expectations for
the global, coherent approach called for by the Seville Euro-
pean Council;

1.34
therefore considers that the approach proposed by the
Commission falls short in that it does not represent progress
towards a Community policy for the outermost regions that
would enable permanent measures more suited to the reality of
the situation in these regions to be incorporated into all Com-
munity policies;

C 71/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.3.2005

expresses its

firm conviction that

the outermost
1.35
regions still need the support of
the European Union to
improve their competitiveness and to pursue their process of
convergence in terms of economic development and opportu-
nities for their citizens on a par with those enjoyed by citizens
in Europe's other regions;

incorporate the provisions of the draft Constitutional Treaty
and to maintain current levels of aid and the option of granting
operating aid which is not progressively reduced or limited in
time; the Committee further calls on the Commission to main-
tain and improve the specific treatment of
the outermost
regions as regards State aid to the farming and fishing sectors;

1.36
expresses, lastly, its support for the European Council,
which considers pressing ahead rapidly with studying the
Communication on the strategy for the outermost regions to
be a priority.

calls on the European Commission to continue guaran-
2.7
teeing differentiated tax arrangements
the outermost
regions as necessary instruments for the economic development
of these regions;

for

2. Recommendations of the Committee of the Regions

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

suggests that the European Commission should revise
2.1
its proposal on the way in which the outermost regions are
treated under the cohesion policy, to include all the outermost
regions in the future convergence objective, regardless of their
GDP. This is the most appropriate solution to take account of
the structural handicaps of these regions and to ensure that
they continue to be treated even-handedly;

calls on the Commission to allocate the necessary finan-
2.2
cial resources to the two specific instruments that have been
proposed, the programme of compensation for additional costs
and the wider neighbourhood action plan. These resources
must be sufficient to meet the real needs of all the outermost
regions, including those whose per capita GDP exceeds 75 % of
the Community average, and to achieve the objectives that
have been set;

recalls that all the outermost regions, including those
2.3
that might no longer be covered by the convergence objective,
are still obliged to make the investments imposed on them by
their remoteness, in particular in the field of infrastructure, and
thus urges the Commission to give a commitment to authorise,
under this specific programme, investment designed to offset
the constraints facing the outermost regions;

calls on the European Commission to start work as
2.4
soon as possible on giving practical effect to the ‘wider neigh-
bourhood’ action plan through effective, coherent coordination
with the EU's other instruments for external and development
cooperation policy and with its trade and customs policy, and
to submit clear proposals for coordinating these provisions
with the recent ‘neighbourhood initiative’;

2.8
urges the Commission, in the framework of the partner-
ship under which it will be implementing the Communication
on the outermost regions, to fully comply with the request
made by the Seville European Council, establishing a genuine
cross-sectoral strategy that will enable all Community policies
to be adapted to the specific circumstances of these regions and
to propose specific measures in the various areas of cohesion
policy;

recommends, in particular, maintaining and developing
2.9
the special treatment accorded to traditional sectors, efforts at
diversification and the process of modernisation in the primary
sector, with the aim of enhancing its contribution to the
process of growth and convergence in the outermost regions;

suggests to the Commission that it clarify its proposal
2.10
to adapt
the POSEI and calls for proposals for permanent
measures that are given a budget appropriate to this Program-
me's development objective;

calls on the European Commission to set sufficiently
2.11
high tariffs under the COM in bananas as to safeguard Com-
munity production and, if necessary, to propose measures to
compensate producers;

2.12
calls on the European Commission to adopt specific
measures as part of the reform of the COM in sugar to support
the development of this sector in the outermost regions;

2.13
calls on the European Commission to take account of
the specific needs of the outermost regions under rural devel-
opment policy, providing them with sufficient resources and
applying to all these regions, under the future Rural Develop-
ment Fund, the co-financing rates used for the most disadvan-
taged regions;

underlines the need to ensure that

the outermost
2.5
regions are included in the section on cross-border cooperation
under the new objective of European territorial cooperation, as
a prerequisite for
integration into their
surrounding geographical neighbourhood;

the objective of

suggests to the Commission that, under

2.6
the new
regional aid guidelines, it should revise its proposals so as to

2.14
calls on the European Commission to push for the
launch of action plans in each of the geographical areas where
the outermost regions are situated,
involving these regions,
their respective Member States and neighbouring third coun-
tries in the preparation of these plans, with the objective of
integrating
respective
geographic areas;

the outermost

into their

regions

22.3.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 71/45

improve the competitiveness of

calls on the European Commission to adopt new
2.15
measures that
farm
produce, which has to compete in the same markets with
similar products from other countries that have association
agreements with the EU, such as Morocco, countries that are in
negotiation with the EU, such as MERCOSUR, or which benefit
from preferential arrangements, such as the ACP group of
countries;

local

calls on the Commission to give practical effect to
2.16
recital 14 of the Sixth RTD Framework Programme,
intro-
ducing appropriate measures geared to the specific characteris-
tics of the outermost regions, to facilitate their participation in
Community R&D initiatives; this should be taken into account
when the next Framework Programme is drawn up;

2.17
calls on the European Commission to consider the
outermost regions to be priority regions when developing
actions for the Information Society and Technological Innova-
tion. These fields constitute a real opportunity for the outer-
most regions because they can help to offset some of the
handicaps arising from their remoteness;

shares the European Commission's assessment of the
2.18
importance of transport for ensuring the access of the outer-
most regions to the internal market and recommends that
appropriate mechanisms and procedures be put in place in
order fully to integrate the outermost regions in all aspects of
the Common Transport Policy;

urges the Commission,

2.19
immediately to
include projects for the outermost regions in the Trans-Euro-
pean Transport Networks and in the Trans-European Energy
Networks, and treat them as a priority;

in particular,

Brussels, 18 November 2004

recalls that

2.20
is an area of crucial
the environment
importance to the outermost regions and calls on the European
Commission to adopt appropriate measures as soon as possible
to ensure sustainable development in such areas as protecting
biodiversity, the Natura 2000 network and waste management;

2.21
calls, in general, on the European Commission to take
account of the joint requests of these regions and of their
respective States and to make a careful study of the relevant
Community policies;

2.22
recalls the need to draw up instruments that will allow
for an ongoing assessment to be made of the impact of new
Community legislation on the outermost regions to ensure that
not only does this not damage the growth of economic activ-
ities in these regions, but also that it promotes such growth in
a real and lasting way;

reiterates that, in order to achieve the strategic objec-
2.23
tives, effective coordination must be ensured,
in particular
within the Commission through the Interdepartmental Group,
whose human resources must be increased;

2.24
insists that both the Community Institutions and
regions should put in place a communication strategy for the
European public, providing information on the problems
affecting the outermost regions and on the genuinely European
dimension of these regions;

2.25
encourages the outermost regions to pursue coopera-
tion in all possible areas and the Commission to support them
in this process in order to meet the two-fold challenge of their
development within the Union and globalisation.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Peter STRAUB