After the articles by Hendrik Brugmans (February -March) and Adelaide Aglietta (April) we go on with our debate on the Maastricht Treaty with an article by the President of the Regional Committee, Mr. A. Gutierrez-Diaz (GUE).

THE REGIONS OF EUROPE

After the signature of the Maastricht Treaty three goals have to be pursued vigorously in regional policy matters: the first is to ensure the democratic participation of the regions within European institutions. The creation of a regional committee opens a space for action that has to be explored and even enlarged in view of the treaty's new modifications foreseen in 1996. This committee represents more a starting point than the conclusion of the process. The committee will have to act with many limitations deriving on the one hand from the confusion between regions and local authorities and on the other hand from the differencies existing in the process of regionalisation in the Member States. Among the 170 regions in the EC, only 60 have democratically elected institutions and a significant degree of power. Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy are the most advanced countries in the process of regionalisation; France has limited regionalisation while Portugal recognised the special case of the Azzorres Is

lands and Madeira. The other Member States do not have institutionalised and democratic regions. The second objective concerns the elimination of regional imbalances and the re-implementation of real economic and social cohesion. But this can be achieved only through an appropriate increase in budget resources devoted to the structural funds. To act effectively the EC will have to allocate at least O.6% of Community GNP to the structural Funds startingf from 1994. This level represents in fact twice the amount of 0.3% of the GNP forseen in the 1993 budget. The attitude of the Council to the Commission proposals in the financial perspective field (Delors II Package) is very worrying. "Twelve Stingy Ladies" so had the Crocodile Newsletter called the national governments in its February issue. Members States defend the principle of the fair return and reject the creation of important resources in the private sector and to put in place those solidarity measures that should compensate the imbalances origin

ated by the market, above all on territorial matters. They forget that cohesion became a principle of the European Union Treaty (Art. B) as well as a goal and a task of the Community (Art. 2 and 3). The last objective concerns the definition of competences and the development of the principle of subsidiarity at all levels and especially at the level of regions and local powers. In the framework of a coherent Community legal structure, competences must be - every time - exerced at a level where they are the most efficient and near to the citizen. Regions and local authorities do not have to take part only to the elaboration of the main lines of the EC regional policy, but also to the definition of the EC aid strategies to regional development and of its implementation. The fact that an important number of European regions does not have democratic institutions strengthens in certain cases the substitution of local authorities. Anyway, these powers need not to have this role, but work within the limits of

their competences. The second EP - Regions Conference that took place in November 1991 already gave a contribution to their problem. It is now necessary to call a conference for local powers. It is today necessary to go beyond the old Europe, founded exclusively on national States. The model of Union we want has to favour inter-regional relations and the creation of inter-regional entities that - because of their cultural, political, economic affinities - can articulate a new geography of European collective identities in Europe. The filling up of the democratic deficit in the EC can be achieved in different ways: the one of the regions is one of the most important.

Antoni Gutiérrez-Diaz, MEP