Own-initiative opinion of the Committee of the Regions For a Green Paper — Towards a European Union policy for upland regions: A European vision for upland regions
Date: 2008-06-19
Institutions: Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety, European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU action, EU policy, action programme, economic and social cohesion, governance, mountain, mountain region, sustainable development

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Official Journal of the European Union

9.10.2008

Own-initiative opinion of the Committee of the Regions ‘For a Green Paper — Towards a European
Union policy for upland regions: A European vision for upland regions’

(2008/C 257/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— recalls the fundamentally positive response from Commission President Barroso to the question asked
by the European Association of Elected Representatives from Mountain Areas calling for a Green
Paper on European policies for upland areas during the Structured Dialogue at the Committee of the
Regions plenary session on 7 December 2006;

— notes that upland regions are, on the one hand, areas with permanent natural and geographical handi-
caps and, on the other, regions with natural and human assets conducive to growth and job creation;

— calls for the European Union to put in place a truly integrated European policy for all upland regions

whilst respecting their diversity;

— would support active development by the European Commission and the Member States of the EU of
the general objectives of the renewed Lisbon and Gothenburg strategies through a European action
plan for the competitiveness and sustainable development of upland areas;

— recommends that the European Commission takes into consideration three major policy areas:

(a) improving the attractiveness and accessibility of upland areas for accommodating businesses and
people, where this can be done without environmental damage, inter alia by improving land trans-
port and telecommunication links,
increasing connections to TENs, and promoting innovation
and creativity by making best use of knowledge, human resources and entrepreneurship;

(b) considering upland areas on the basis of their own resources, taking into account their specifici-
ties, to enable them to overcome the extra costs associated with their permanent natural handicap
and to maintain Services of General Interest;

(c) developing clusters and centres of competitiveness to bring together and consolidate the various

sectors of activity with a view to sustainable development.

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Rapporteur: Mr Luis DURNWALDER (IT/EPP), Regional councillor and President of the Bolzano autono-

mous province

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

1.
recalls the fundamentally positive response from Commis-
sion President Barroso to the question asked by the European
Association of Elected Representatives from Mountain Areas
calling for a Green Paper on European policies for upland areas
during the Structured Dialogue at the Committee of the Regions
plenary session on 7 December 2006;

2.
highlights the recognition in the Lisbon Treaty (Article
158), in the definition of the objective of territorial cohesion, of
the need for upland areas to be given special attention, along
with other regions which suffer from permanent natural or
geographical handicaps;

recalls that uplands are essential to the life and activity of
3.
the European Union through their
the entire population of
natural resources,
their cultural resources such as linguistic
diversity and particular skills, and their economic resources such
as agriculture, industry and tourism;

4.
notes that, as a whole, upland areas are to be found in 21
Member States of the European Union and account for 35,69 %
of Europe's surface area and 17,73 % of its population (1);

5.
notes that upland areas account for 26 % of the land
surfaces of the Earth and 10 % of its population, and are a key
part of the sustainable development of the planet, as recognised
by Chapter 13 of Rio's Agenda 21;

6.
notes that the accessibility of mountain areas is of key
importance for completing a true single market and for making
the free movement of people, goods and services a reality;

7.
points out that upland areas are even more diverse when
one looks at the cohesion of mountain massifs defined as supra-
regional cross-border or transnational areas taking in mountain
areas, valley floors and foothills, urban and rural areas;

8.
reiterates that the mountain environment has an incredible
amount of biodiversity and is particularly fragile and sensitive to
climate change; as a consequence,
it constitutes a real early-
warning system;

states that upland areas have traditionally been in the
9.
vanguard of potentially innovative sustainable development in
the face of permanent natural handicaps;

(1) Study on Mountain Areas in Europe: Analysis of mountain areas in EU
member states, acceding and other European countries, Nordregio on
behalf of DG Regio, January 2004.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/studies/pdf/
montagne/mount1.pdf.

recalls that local and regional authorities have significant

10.
experience in sustainable development in upland areas;

recalls

the efforts of

the European Parliament,

11.
the
Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and
Social Committee to encourage more attention to be paid to
upland regions in European policies through opinions and
studies;

12.
notes that, to date, there is no European policy or inte-
grated Community strategy on upland areas along the lines of
the ones put in place for maritime regions or urban areas;

To improve the governance of the European Union

13.
points out that local and regional authorities in upland
areas set great store by their autonomy and by compliance with
the subsidiarity principle, reflecting a bottom-up approach to
European governance;

notes that upland regions are, on the one hand, areas
14.
with permanent natural and geographical handicaps and, on the
other, regions with natural and human assets conducive to
growth and job creation;

15.
points out the need to bring European policies together
into an integrated sustainable development strategy that can
take account of the diversity of massifs;

16.
highlights the urgent need for balanced and fair work by
the EU to make best use, in a sustainable manner, of the diver-
sity of European urban, coastal, sparsely populated and moun-
tainous areas;

recalls the importance of

17.
the role and the work of
upland populations in managing landscapes and the balance of
the upland environment;

18.
supports the work by regional and local authorities and
the networks that bring them together to exchange good prac-
tice in relation to the renewed Lisbon and Gothenburg objec-
tives and aimed at economic, social and territorial cohesion;

19.
recalls the relevance of the Lisbon strategy and the 2007-
2013 cohesion policy guidelines for upland areas, as for other
areas, as drivers of Europe's global competitiveness;

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recalls the central role of the cross-border and transna-

20.
tional dimension of European policies in European integration;

highlights the need to bring the political and administra-

21.
tive side of Europe closer to the daily lives of ordinary people;

— Competition, Single Market, Services of General Interest and

PPP;

— Research and innovation;

— Cultural and linguistic diversity, education and training.

An integrated approach for upland areas as a general
guiding principle

For a European Union action plan for upland regions

the level of upland regions (the Alps,
the Iberian Sierras,

emphasises the added value at European level of working
22.
the
at
Carpathian Mountains,
the
Mediterranean mountains including those on islands, the Nordic
mountains, the central mountains, etc.) taking account of their
cross-border and transnational dimension;

the Pyrenees,
the Balkans,

highlights the importance of upland areas in terms of

23.
their natural and cultural resources;

recalls the significant number of national and regional

24.
integrated policies for upland areas;

takes note of the work of the Alpine Convention and the

25.
launch of the Carpathian Convention;

26.
pays tribute to the work of the Euroregions and Working
Communities in their role as mediators and driving forces in
border areas;

27.
would like a real European strategy for upland areas so
as to complement at inter-sectoral level the progress expected
from the Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion that is currently
being prepared;

The various policies as instruments of an integrated policy
for upland areas

28.
notes that a European policy for upland areas would
involve a large number of sectoral policies that are already
covered in part by European legislation but have never been
coordinated under an integrated approach;

lists below some major policy areas that an active policy

29.
on upland areas needs to cover:

— Economic, social and territorial cohesion,

including inter-

regional, cross-border and transnational cooperation;

— Agriculture and rural development;

— Tourism;

— Industry and SMEs;

— Climate change, renewable energy and natural resources

(water, air, high-altitude sunshine, wood, biomass);

— Environment, biodiversity and natural and cultural

land-

scapes;

— Transport and ICT, local accessibility and TENs;

calls for the European Union to put in place a truly inte-
30.
grated European policy for all upland regions whilst respecting
their diversity;

would support active development by the European
31.
Commission and the Member States of the EU of the general
objectives of
the renewed Lisbon and Gothenburg strategies
through a European action plan for the competitiveness and
sustainable development of upland areas;

32.
advises the European Institutions to take account of the
characteristics of individual area in their work towards ‘better
lawmaking’;

33.
calls on the European Commission to recognise the
diverse and positive contribution that local and regional authori-
ties make in the field of sustainable development of mountain
areas and to include this in the new European policy for upland
areas;

recommends that the European Commission takes into

34.
consideration three major policy areas:

a.

improving the attractiveness and accessibility of upland areas
for accommodating businesses and people, where this can be
done without environmental damage, inter alia by improving
land transport and telecommunication links,
increasing
connections to TENs, and promoting innovation and crea-
tivity by making best use of knowledge, human resources
and entrepreneurship;

b. considering upland areas on the basis of their own resources,
taking into account their specificities, to enable them to over-
come the extra costs associated with their permanent natural
handicap and to maintain Services of General Interest;

c. developing clusters and centres of competitiveness to bring
together and consolidate the various sectors of activity with a
view to sustainable development;

recommends

35.
the European Commission makes
upland regions pilot areas for innovation, the knowledge society
and sustainable development;

that

36.
would like upland areas to be able to continue to
develop innovation based on their traditions and improve the
competitiveness of their SMEs;

37.
suggests
Members States of
different areas as regards employment and training;

the European Commission and the
the EU consider the different needs of

that

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recommends that

38.
the European Commission develop,
based on the experience of Nature Parks, an integrated manage-
ment method for isolated high and medium mountain areas
which can combine policies for conserving natural resources,
particularly through the Natura 2000 networks, with policies
for
the enhancement and balanced development of upland
regions;

39.
the
advises the European Union to take account of
specific needs of particular areas when framing the Europe-wide
its civil security, given the concentration of
organisation of
natural hazards and the very different constraints, and hence
techniques, for the deployment of civil protection and rescue
services in upland areas;

40.
calls for consideration to be given, as part of the CAP
reform, to the strategic role of upland agriculture, pastoralism
and winegrowing in maintaining landscapes, the quality of water
and the production of high-quality produce with a high degree
of territorial traceability. This more locally-oriented Common
Agricultural Policy would benefit high-quality, low-yield produc-
tion, which is a key element of European agriculture and of the
utmost importance in environmental terms;

calls on the European Commission, the European Parlia-
41.
the European Union to offer a
ment and the Council of
balanced, comprehensive package of measures
suitable for
backing up steps to phase out the milk quota regime, especially
in upland and middle mountain regions. These measures should
be financed with resources from market organisation measures
which are no longer used, but should not be at the expense of
direct payments.
In order to maintain agriculture, extensive
farming and dairy production in upland areas and middle
mountain regions, a more economically-oriented measure in the
second pillar should be developed, aimed inter alia at creating
market opportunities, thus supporting those types of farming in
areas with natural and geographical handicaps, which produce
significant benefits for nature and the environment;

42.
calls on the European institutions to take into account in
their policies the key role of upland forests and sustainable
forest management in view of the highly effective protection
they provide for the areas of forest concerned and, in particular,
residential areas, and their resulting contribution to conserving
resources and biodiversity, with a view to combating climate
change and preserving air and water quality and the countryside
and to the socio-economic development of upland regions;

biomass and wood) of mountain areas, and their ability to
construct buildings to passive house standard;

45.
calls on the European institutions, national and regional
public banks, and the European Carbon Fund or Bluenext to
take into consideration the positive contributions to the quality
of the environment (forests, meadows and mountain pastures)
made by upland areas in terms of carbon sinks, which could be
financially rewarded through the carbon certificate or credit
systems;

46.
recalls that the energy, transport and ITC TENs must
include a genuine territorial dimension and thus take account of
the geographical, environmental and human situations of the
regions they cross if
they are to become genuine European
networks for pan-continental communication and exchanges
supported by the local population;

47.
intends to take an interest in experiments in local and
sustainable integrated transport in upland towns as part of the
European debate on sustainable urban mobility;

48.
stresses the need for a permanent link between upland
populations and large population centres in order to achieve the
renewed European objectives for growth and jobs;

49.
calls on the European Commission to do everything
possible to reduce the digital divide and enable all areas and all
European citizens to access high-speed, and in the near future
very high speed, connections via cable or satellite,
inter alia
under the i2010 European initiative on e-inclusion;

50.
recommends that the upland dimension of certain inter-
national geopolitical issues, such as those relating to water and
natural resources, respect for cultural diversity and education,
sustainable economic development and migratory flows, be
included in foreign and neighbourhood policy;

51.
advises the European Commission to territorialise its
communication strategy so as to draw closer to the daily lives
of European citizens;

52.
suggests that a stronger territorial dimension be given to
European policies, the Community decision-making process and
comitology so as to improve European democracy;

calls on the European Parliament

to identify the
53.
budgetary impact on each upland area of the European Union's
activities;

43. maintains that
there is currently too little economic
activity related to forestry in Europe, both in terms of its envir-
onmental role and of its economic products (energy, construc-
tion, raw materials);

recommends that cohesion policy be coordinated on a
54.
partnership basis in upland regions so as to avoid fragmentation
and improve the strategic dimension of structural measures;

44.
calls on the European institutions to include in their
analysis of European territories the energy needs and renewable
solar, wind,
energy production capacities

(hydro-electric,

suggests that

the operational programming of other
55.
Community policies that have a territorial impact also be coor-
dinated at this relevant level, i.e. upland regions, so as to define
cross-sectoral, integrated and partnership-based strategies;

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56.
supports the measure adopted by the Council of Minis-
ters responsible for spatial planning to study the impact of
climate change on upland areas as part of the Territorial Agenda
action plan, and calls on the European Commission to take
account of this issue in its work and legislative proposals;

57.
supports the key role of cohesion policy in this European
strategy on upland regions and the leading role of the territorial
cohesion objective and Interreg programmes;

58.
calls on the Member States and their parliaments, as part
of their procedures for adopting the regulation on the EGTC, to
consider the vital importance of a common legal instrument to
promote territorial cooperation in upland regions;

59.
highlights the need to take account in competition and
single market policies the crucial role of Services of General
Interest and Public-Private Partnerships in upland economies,
and of overcoming the permanent economic and social costs in
these areas with permanent natural handicaps in order to avoid
depopulation and make best use of their assets;

60.
calls on the European Commission to consult all the
stakeholders and observers involved in the Alpine Convention
and the Carpathian Convention in order to study their govern-
ance and objectives and to decide, on that basis, whether or not

Brussels, 19 June 2008.

to ratify the protocols of the former and to sign and ratify those
of the latter, and, if so, to play a leading role in these transna-
tional Conventions;

61.
proposes that a European year be dedicated to upland
areas and that a biennial European conference of upland regions
be organised by the Commission,
in conjunction with the
Committee of the Regions, along the lines of the 2002 confer-
ence;

62.
calls on the European Parliament and the Council, during
the hearings prior to their appointment, identifiably to entrust
competence for upland areas to a single Commissioner, who
would coordinate the activities of the College on this cross-
cutting territorial issue, in addition to his other competences;

63.
calls on the European Commission to make proposals in
a Green Paper on the future of European policies on upland
regions as a precursor to an integrated, partnership-based Euro-
pean strategy for upland areas led by the European Commission,
the Member States and regional and local authorities, supported
by socio-economic and environmental players, and involving
national and European associations representing regional autho-
rities from upland areas.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE