Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Strategy for the outermost regions: Achievements and future prospects
Date: 2008-04-09
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: competitiveness, cooperation policy, economic and social cohesion, peripheral region, regional integration, regional policy, sustainable development

5.7.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Strategy for the outermost regions: Achievements
and future prospects’

(2008/C 172/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— considers that the strategy for the ORs remains entirely valid and that, far from having run its course

should be continued, built on and updated;

— notes that the issues identified by the Commission as challenges for the future of both the EU and the
ORs — climate change, demographic change and the management of migratory flows, maritime
policy and agriculture — are matters of enormous importance, are priorities for the European and
world agendas and have a significant impact on the different EU regions;

— wishes, however, to point out that the Community strategy for the ORs identified by the Commission
in its communication of May 2004 was based on a global and coherent approach, aimed at main-
streaming into all Community policies the strategy's three objectives — improving internal and
external accessibility, making the local economic fabric more competitive and strengthening the
regions' integration into the surrounding geographical area;

— calls on the Commission to take the specific features of the ORs into account in the context of the
forthcoming CAP Health Check and any future reforms embarked upon, maintaining their exceptions
in terms of decoupling and modulation, and ensuring that sufficient budgetary resources are
earmarked for their farming activities;

— asks the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to adopt measures to offset the detrimental effects of
including air transport in the emissions trading scheme, in order to take account of the specific situa-
tion of the ORs;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Rapporteur: Mr Paulino Rivero BAUTE, President of

the Autonomous Community of

the Canary

Islands, (ES/ALDE)

Reference document

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Strategy for the Outermost Regions: Achieve-
ments and Future Prospects

COM(2007) 507 final

Policy recommendations

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

1.
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;

2.
this situation is characterised by the combination of a
series of constant factors, in particular 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;

3.
these factors result in additional costs and present particu-
lar obstacles to the growth, convergence and economic sustain-
ability of these regions, which prevents them from participating
fully in the dynamics of the internal market, limits the opportu-
nities available to their residents and reduces the competitive-
ness of their industries;

4.
the ORs are also an asset to the European Union. Owing
to their geographical location, they could become strategically
important platforms on which to develop the role that the Euro-
pean Union wishes to play in the world;

5.
these factors fully justify special treatment in the imple-
mentation of Community policies, so that the specific needs of
these regions can be met and their capacity for locally-generated
development increased;

6.
support should thus be given to the calls made by the
ORs and their national authorities, to consolidate, enrich, build
on and update the coherent overall strategy to be implemented
for these regions, resulting in a genuine Community policy for
the Ors;

General comments of the Committee of the Regions

The specific treatment of
coherent overall development
for
regions: broadly positive but with much still
done

the outer most regions: a
these
to be

strategy

welcomes

7.
the European
Commission has taken the initiative of establishing an appro-
priate framework for implementing Community legislation and

since 1986,

that,

fact

the

the
the common policies on these regions on the basis of
Programmes of Options specific to the remote and insular
nature of the outermost regions (POSEI);

8.
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 ORs and the need to
mainstream this into all the Union's policies, in particular by
maintaining the priority assistance granted under the struc-
tural policy for economic and social cohesion;

— 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;

— to take account of the geographical environment of the Ors
in the context of the EU's relations with neighbouring third
countries;

the

recalls,

therefore,

satisfaction expressed by

9.
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 Ors and which would launch a
crucial new stage in defining a coherent overall policy for the
sustainable development of the ORs;

recalls that

the conclusions of

10.
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 the special needs of the Ors to be taken
into account through the various common policies, in particular
transport policy, and in the reform of some of these policies, 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;

11.
thus expresses its satisfaction at the adoption, on 26 May
2004, of the Commission Communication A stronger partnership
for the outermost regions and of the Commission report A stronger
partnership strengthened for the outermost regions: assessment and
prospects, on 6 August 2004. The Committee notes the recogni-
the ORs, which fully
tion given to the unique situation of

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justifies special treatment in the various Community policies,
although the Commission proposal only partially and, therefore,
inadequately fulfils the mandate given at the Seville European
Council and the needs expressed by the regions and their States;

12.
welcomes the Commission's willingness to present a
progress report on its strategy for the ORs and the future
prospects for this strategy in its communication entitled Strategy
for the Outermost Regions: Achievements and Future Prospects and
its appended working document assessing the progress of the
OR strategy (SEC(2007) 1112);

13.
considers that this strategy remains entirely valid and
that, far from having run its course, should be continued, built
on and updated. Proof of this is the fact that the status of the
ORs has been enshrined in Article 299 of the recently adopted
Treaty of Lisbon;

Towards the long-ter m consolidation of the coherent
overall
the outer most
strategy
regions: expanding and updating this strategy

development

for

14.
firstly wishes to congratulate the Commission, as the
new communication confirms its sensitivity towards the ORs,
emphasising the need to recognise the specific characteristics of
these regions and giving a commitment to continue the special
attention it pays to these regions;

15.
congratulates the Commission because, whilst acknowl-
edging the need for the different Community policies to take
account of the specific characteristics of the ORs, it also recog-
nises the added value and the opportunities that these regions
offer the EU in the global context;

notes that the assessment of the measures to build on
16.
the 2004 strategy is positive and that the way in which the key
policies for developing the ORs have been revised and redefined
is broadly satisfactory;

points out that the handicaps suffered by the ORs are
17.
their
permanent and common to all of
income levels, and that
the problems facing these regions
cannot simply be reduced to a matter of income but are rooted
in a complex structural situation that profoundly affects the citi-
zens of these regions and the competitiveness of their indus-
tries;

them, regardless of

18.
congratulates the European Commission on its desire to
expand on each and every strand of the Community strategy for
these regions by implementing additional measures and also on
its desire to update and flesh out this strategy, adapting it to
future global challenges; calls on the Commission to show the
necessary consistency when drawing up proposals in these
fields;

considers that the measures proposed by the Commis-
19.
sion to be developed in the short term to reduce the accessi-
bility deficit and to make the ORs more competitive are,
broadly speaking, quite vague or do little more than offer guide-

lines for making more efficient use of the resources already allo-
cated to these regions;

20.
notes that the measures put forward for regional integra-
tion are more practical and useful, although they are inadequate
and need to be complemented by others that help to ensure that
integrating the ORs into their geographical
the objective of
surroundings is achieved in practice;

21.
recalls that the ORs face the two-fold challenge of inte-
grating both into the internal market and into their geographical
surroundings. Their geo-strategic location also represents enor-
mous potential for the EU and makes these regions key plat-
forms from which the EU can launch its external action in those
parts of the world;

22.
congratulates the Commission on having started its work
on fleshing out the Wider Neighbourhood Action Plan launched
in its 2004 communication. The Committee notes, however,
that efforts should continue to be made,
in particular with
regard to ensuring better coordination between the ERDF and
the EDF, in order to achieve the aim of integrating the ORs into
their geographical surroundings;

23.
congratulates the Commission on the information it has
given to the ORs as part of preparations for the EU's economic
association agreements with the ACP countries. The Committee
notes, however, that as negotiations currently stand, these agree-
ments constitute an immediate threat to the ORs and that the
opportunities they represent are long-term and even doubtful;

24.
regrets that the Commission has not included practical
proposals for measures to encourage SMEs in the ORs to invest
externally, as it had announced it would, since this would help
into their geographical
regions
to better
surroundings;

integrate

these

25.
notes that the issues identified by the Commission as
challenges for the future of both the EU and the ORs and on
which the Commission has launched a debate in its communica-
tion — climate change, demographic change and the manage-
ment of migratory flows, maritime policy and agriculture — are
matters of enormous importance, are priorities for the European
and world agendas and have a significant
impact on the
different EU regions;

underlines that the impact might be even greater for the
26.
ORs which, due to their specific characteristics, are particularly
fragile and vulnerable;

that

to point out

wishes, however,

the Community
27.
strategy for
the ORs identified by the Commission in its
communication of May 2004 was based on a global and
coherent approach, aimed at mainstreaming into all Community
policies the strategy's three objectives — improving internal and
external accessibility, making the local economic fabric more
competitive and strengthening the regions' integration into the
surrounding geographical area;

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28.
welcomes and agrees with the Commission's comment
that the strategic approach adopted in Community action for
the ORs is becoming increasingly cross-sectoral and that the
contribution of all Community policies is crucial to the develop-
ment of these regions and to their integration into the internal
market;

tant role to play in promoting this cooperation, because they
can act as platforms for cooperation with neighbouring third
countries, to this end, making use of the European Commission
programmes; and in particular welcomes the pilot project for
joint planning for territorial cooperation between the Outer-
most Regions and neighbouring third countries;

reiterates the relevance and topical

29.
importance of the
three strategic strands referred to above, which remain the
fundamental strands of the Community's OR strategy and also
insists that changes to the different Community policies should
factor in and adapt to the economic situation at the time;

36.
considers that action should be taken on the causes of
illegal immigration by establishing an effective policy for legal
immigration, combating the informal economy and addressing
the problem of unaccompanied immigrant minors at source, by
promoting education and employment;

30.
considers that the emergence of these new challenges
and priorities on the European agenda and the revision of key
policies such as the common agricultural policy, call for an
assessment of the impact that these challenges and priorities
could have on the three strands of
the Community's OR
strategy, with a view to providing a detailed analysis that would
help to incorporate the specific situation of the ORs into the
general discussion on how the EU should respond to these chal-
lenges;

31.
stresses that the Commission should use the abovemen-
tioned method to assess the impact that the four areas identified
could have on the three strands of the strategy and regrets, for
example, the fact that the Commission has not taken sufficient
account of this impact on a matter as fundamental and crucial
to the ORs as air transport and has not proposed a more
specific approach for these regions in its proposal for a Directive
to include aviation activities in the scheme for emission allow-
ance trading;

32.
considers that the ORs have much to contribute in these
four areas because these issues are of particular concern to
them, due to their specific situation;

33.
recalls that the ORs have a major maritime dimension,
which gives the EU unrivalled opportunities in such spheres as
innovation, research, the environment and biodiversity;

once again emphasises the need for an overall approach
34.
to the phenomenon of increasing migration, which has a parti-
cularly significant impact on the ORs, as the ‘live’ borders of the
European Union. In this connection, the Committee wishes to
highlight the conclusions of the conference on The role of regions
and cities in managing migratory flows, held on 30 October 2007
in Adeje (Tenerife, Spain), and in particular, the need for greater
involvement by the national and European authorities in mana-
ging this phenomenon, in sharing the financial burden and in
assessing the impact of migration on the economic and social
cohesion of the ORs;

37.
agrees with the Commission on the need to address the
huge challenges set by demographic pressure in fragmented
neighbouring regions and stresses the need to promote, as soon
as possible, studies of the implications for land-use planning,
the labour market, education and training needs, and public
services in these regions, proposing the appropriate measures
where necessary;

38.
agrees with the Commission that combating climate
change and adapting to its effects pose a significant challenge
for the ORs, given their geographical situation and their vulner-
ability; the specific measures required in this area to prevent a
detrimental impact on accessibility, the economy and the inhabi-
tants of these regions must be practical and effective;

39.
agrees with the Commission that agriculture is a key
factor in the economy of the Outermost Regions, which are
handicapped by geographical and climatic disadvantages and
thus considers that a forward-looking strategy should be drawn
up to develop agriculture in these regions and thus tackle the
challenges presented by tougher global competition;

40.
considers that, because economic and social cohesion
policy is the main instrument underpinning Community OR
policy, it is particularly important to assess whether the issues
opened up for discussion might have an effect on economic and
social cohesion in these regions;

41.
considers that the results of this assessment could make
a useful contribution to the revision of post-2013 Community
cohesion policy. They could also contribute to the Green Paper
on territorial cohesion that the Commission plans to adopt in
2008;

42.
thus takes the view that the new phase in developing the
Community's OR strategy, which the Commission will launch
when it concludes the consultation process, should incorporate
these elements into its strategy in order to develop, build on
and update it;

35.
with regard to the management of migratory flows,
wishes to state that it is convinced of the fundamental impor-
tance of consolidating dialogue and cooperation with the coun-
tries of origin and transit; also wishes to point out that the local
and regional bodies of the Outermost Regions have an impor-

considers that the partnership between the ORs, their
43.
respective States and the European Commission should continue
to play a key role in developing the long-term Community
strategy for these regions;

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44.
wishes to state its firm conviction that the ORs still need
the support of all Community policies in order to become more
competitive and to continue the process of convergence in
terms of economic development and of equal opportunities for
their inhabitants in relation to the inhabitants of Europe's other
regions;

45.
lastly, wishes to express its support for the European
Council, which should reaffirm and renew at the highest level
the political commitment to the ORs and the need for rapid
progress to be made on the Community strategy for these
regions;

Conclusions and recommendations

urges the Commission to continue building on the 2004
46.
OR strategy,
implementing the measures announced in its
communication and encouraging greater coherence and closer
to
coordination between the different Community policies
ensure that the new phase of this strategy is truly global and
coherent;

47.
calls on the Commission to carry out a mid-term review
that will help to gauge the strategy's impact on the economic
development of the ORs that have abandoned the ‘convergence’
objective, and the impact of European funds on the actual
convergence process for the remaining ORs;

asks the Commission, once it has evaluated the impact of
48.
the POSEI reforms that it will carry out in 2009, to propose
relevant measures to guarantee appropriate support for tradi-
tional sectors in the ORs, which are essential to their economic
viability;

49.
calls on the Commission to take the specific features of
the ORs into account in the context of the forthcoming CAP
Health Check and any future reforms embarked upon, main-
taining their exceptions in terms of decoupling and modulation,
and ensuring that sufficient budgetary resources are earmarked
for their farming activities;

50.
urges the Commission to ensure greater protection of
agricultural products from the outermost regions against the
liberalisation of imports
strong threats caused by the gradual
into the EU, by adopting appropriate measures to prevent
farming from being undermined in these regions due to the
opening-up of the Community market;

Brussels, 9 April 2008.

51.
calls on the Commission, in the forthcoming program-
ming periods, to design specific rural development policies for
the ORs and provide sufficient budgetary resources for these;

52.
calls on the Commission to take account, without delay,
of the specific characteristics of the ORs in current initiatives,
with regard to the four issues opened up for discussion in the
communication;

53.
wishes to point out that the Outermost Regions clearly
give the European Union a global maritime dimension and also
form genuine natural laboratories for studying marine science.
Considers, therefore, that priority measures should be taken
swiftly in these regions to protect and enhance this potential;

54.
asks the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to adopt
measures to offset the detrimental effects of including air trans-
port in the emissions trading scheme, in order to take account
of the specific situation of the ORs;

55.
reiterates that the ORs are entirely dependent on air
transport for links both with the outside world and between the
different islands, since there are no alternatives and given that
the total quantity of CO2 emissions on the routes serving the
ORs is negligible in relation to the EU's total emissions;

56.
calls on the Commission to address the issues of demo-
graphic change and managing migratory flows separately. The
Committee wishes to make it clear that these are two distinct
and complex problems that affect the ORs particularly acutely
and that each consequently warrants the utmost attention;

57.
requires an urgent and focused approach in order to alle-
viate the tragic situation caused by the arrival of unaccompanied
immigrant minors and national and European authorities are,
therefore, asked to shoulder their responsibilities for managing
this phenomenon and for sharing the financial burden;

asks the Commission to carry out an impact assessment
58.
of the aforementioned four issues covered by the discussion of
the three strands of the Community OR strategy;

59.
calls on the Commission to assess whether these four
issues might have an impact on the economic and social cohe-
sion of the ORs, bearing in mind that economic and social
cohesion policy is the main instrument underpinning the Com-
munity strategy for these regions.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE