pozdravlja predlagano reformo kohezijske politike za izvajanje ciljev rasti, zaposlovanja in trajnostnega razvoja; meni, da je evropska regionalna politika nujno potrebno orodje za spodbujanje socialne, ekonomske in teritorialne kohezije, ki Uniji dovoljuje sprejemanje ukrepov za zmanjšanje regionalnih razlik, za pospeševanje skladnega razvoja v vsej Uniji ter spopadanje s strukturnimi pomanjkljivostmi (otežen dostop, odseljevanje in redka poseljenost, oddaljenost itd.), za spodbujanje trajnostnega razvoja regij, njihove rasti, konkurenčnosti in zaposlovanja; poudarja pomen kohezijske politike za doseganje lizbonskih ciljev ter za prispevanje k odpravi razlik med različnimi ozemlji Evropske unije, vsa sredstva, namenjena za kohezijsko politiko, bi morala biti porabljena v ta namen; je prepričan, da so skupni ukrepi na evropski ravni stroškovno učinkoviti, ker omogočajo ekonomije obsega, racionalizacijo postopkov in združevanje sredstev, zlasti na področju čezmejnega sodelovanja; meni, da je obstoj močne, dobro financirane evropske regionalne politike osnovni pogoj za sposobnost Unije za nadaljnjo širitev in zmanjšanje regionalnih razlik ter da je pri tem treba ohraniti osnovno tristebrno strukturo programov pomoči na področju primerjalnega razmerja med njimi; zato meni, da sta zneska 0,41 % BND Unije in 4 % nacionalnega BND novih držav članic primerna, če lahko države članice zagotovijo, da ukrepi potekajo hkrati z nacionalnimi in regionalnimi ukrepi ter da je na voljo ustrezno sofinanciranje (z javnimi in zasebnimi sredstvi); je odločen spremljati, ali Komisija dosledno upošteva pravilo N + 2 v strukturnih skladih in bi morali zato še naprej izvajan ta pravila v zvezi s kohezijskim skladom;
Welcomes the proposed reform of cohesion policy with a view to placing it at the service of the objectives of growth, employment and sustainable development; considers that European regional policy is an indispensable tool for promoting social, economic and territorial cohesion, permitting the Union to undertake actions to reduce regional disparities, with a view to fostering the harmonious development of the Union as a whole and addressing structural shortcomings (difficult access, depopulation and low population density, remote location etc.), so as to stimulate the sustainable development of the regions, their growth, competitiveness and employment; underlines the importance of cohesion policy in achieving the Lisbon goals and helping to bridge the gap between the different territories of the European Union; insists that all resources allocated to cohesion policy should be spent for this purpose; is convinced that joint action at European level is cost-effective since it allows for economies of scale, the rationalisation of procedures and the pooling of resources, particularly in the context of cross-border co-operation; considers that the existence of a strong, well-financed European regional policy is a condition sine qua non of the Union's ability to deal with successive enlargements and reduce regional disparities and that, in the process, the basic structure of the system of assistance programmes, with three pillars, must be maintained in terms of the comparative relationship between them; considers, therefore, the amount of 0.41% of the Union's GNI and 4% of national GNI of the new Member States as adequate, provided the Member States can ensure that the actions take place in addition to national and regional measures and that the corresponding co-financing (using public and private funds) is made available; is determined to monitor the strict application by the Commission of the N+2 rule in the Structural Funds and insists, therefore, that the present rules regarding the Cohesion Fund should be further applied;