A3-0268/94

Resolution on the draft notice from the Commission to the Member States laying down guidelines for the operational programmes which Member States are invited to establish in the framework of a Community initiative concerning the outermost regions (REGIS II) (COM(94)0046 - C3-0127/94)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Commission draft notice to the Member States (COM(94)0046 - C3-0127/94),

-having regard to Regulation (EEC) No. 2081/93 amending Regulation (EEC) No. 2052/88 on the tasks of the Structural Funds and their effectiveness and on coordination of their activities between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments, in particular Article 5(5) and Article 12(5) thereof,

-having regard to Regulation (EEC) No. 2082/93 amending Regulation (EEC) No. 4253/88 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No. 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments, in particular Article 11 thereof,

-having regard to paragraph 2 of the code of conduct on the implementation of the structural policies by the Commission,

-having regard to its resolution of 15 June 1990 on a Community initiative to assist the most remote regions of the Community (REGIS),

-having regard to its resolution of 28 October 1993 on the future of Community initiatives under the Structural Funds,

-having regard to the declaration annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community on the outermost regions of the Community,

-having regard to the conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council of 11 and 12 December 1992, according to which Community initiatives 'should mainly promote cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation and assistance for the outermost regions',

-having regard to the interinstitutional agreement on budgetary discipline of 29 October 1993 and the financial perspective annexed thereto,

-having regard to its resolution of 28 October 1993 on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 1994, section III - Commission, in particular paragraph 8 thereof,

-having regard to the general budget for the European Union for the financial year 1994, in particular Article B2-140 and Chapter B0-40,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Regional Planning and Relations with Regional and Local Authorities and the opinions of the Committee on Social Affairs, Employment and the Working Environment, the Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on Women's Rights and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A3-0268/94),

A.whereas the special conditions and difficulties of the outermost regions, due largely to their geographical, physical and human characteristics, have historically resulted in a chronic situation of structural backwardness which runs the risk of definitively marginalizing them from the rest of the Community,

B.whereas the integration of the outermost regions into the internal market may provide new opportunities for such regions but also involves a risk of increasing their economic difficulties, by exposing them to fiercer competition,

C.whereas, on the other hand, the integration of the outermost regions into the European Union does not only involve economic difficulties but, at the same time, offers undeniable cultural and geo-strategic advantages,

D.whereas all the regions included in the REGIS II programme are classified as Objective 1 in the Structural Funds regulation for the period 1994 - 1999,

E.whereas the Poseidom, Poseican and Poseima programmes involve the adaptation of the application of Community law to the special conditions of Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French overseas departments,

F.whereas it is accordingly essential to back up these programmes with special options for the funding of structural measures which will meet the particular situation of the outermost regions as part of an integrated development strategy,

G.whereas the Treaty on European Union establishes the need, as a priority under the new trans-European networks policy, to set up connections between the island and remote regions and the central regions of the Community,

H.whereas the declaration on the outermost regions of the Community annexed to the EC Treaty acknowledges the special difficulties and conditions of the French overseas departments, Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands and in response recognizes the need to adopt specific measures with the aim both of completing the internal market and of rectifying the economic and social disparities separating these regions from the average level of the Community,

I.mindful of the importance for the European Union of the platforms provided by its outermost regions from an economic and geo-political point of view and the opportunity thus provided for establishing links between the European Union and countries in other continents,

J.mindful of the richness and uniqueness of nature in these regions and the great possibilities which this might offer for scientific activities and quality tourism within the framework of sustainable development,

1.Notes with satisfaction the Commission's decision to provide continuity for the Community initiative on the outermost regions by adopting the new REGIS II initiative;

2.Welcomes the fact that, in accordance with the Declaration on the outermost regions of the Community annexed to the EC Treaty, the Commission is confining the beneficiary regions of REGIS II to Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French overseas departments;

3.Requests that in the event of enlargement of the Community the list of regions benefiting from REGIS II will not change, unless additional budgetary resources are provided;

4.Voices its support for the global approach which the Commission is taking by combining under REGIS II the measures previously covered by REGIS I with the measures fundable under other Community initiatives and the structural measures of Poseidom, Poseican and Poseima; considers that this approach will make it possible to design an integrated development strategy that will increase the benefit of this initiative with regard to the Community support frameworks;

5.Stresses that, given that the REGIS II initiative groups together measures under the other initiatives, a corresponding increase will have to be made in the financial resources allocated to REGIS II whenever new Community initiatives are adopted which relate to the outermost regions;

6.Considers that recognition of the special difficulties suffered by the outermost regions should continue by making the budgetary allocation for the REGIS II initiative additional to the Structural Funds reserved for Objective 1 regions;

7.Considers that the special measures to offset the adverse effects of island status and extreme remoteness should meet sound economic criteria which will prevent an assistance culture, creating permanent dependence;

Eligible measures

8.Considers that, in view of the high level of unemployment which generally affects these regions, attention should be given as a priority to vocational training schemes, particularly those designed to tackle youth and women's unemployment and those linked to the sectors and activities that are most likely to create jobs from the point of view of local development, particularly in the service sector and, specifically, the tourist industry;

9.Believes that vocational training and employment creation measures need to be specially tailored to the characteristics of peripheral labour markets;

10.Points out the need for adequate provision of vocational guidance and for language training given the importance of the tourism sector to REGIS II regions;

11.Believes that the Commission should clarify the kinds of measures envisaged in paragraph 11, indent four, on tackling youth employment, long-term unemployment and under-employment;

12.Urges that funding be also made available to improve social and vocational training infrastructure in liaison with operations carried out pursuant to Article 1(4)(a) of Regulation (EEC) 4255/88 as amended by Regulation (EEC) 2084/93;

13.Urges that there be close cooperation and coordination between this initiative, other initiatives including EMPLOY, operational programmes financed by the Structural Funds and other relevant Community programmes, in particular LEONARDO and SOCRATES;

14.Stresses the importance of measures for the diversification of activities taking account of experience with the previous phase, in which the success of this type of assistance in the agricultural sector deserves to be highlighted, at least in some of these regions;

15.Draws attention to the need to support the traditional crops in these regions and adapt them to meet the requirements of the single market and the growing opening up of international markets, as well as to foster environmental protection;

16.Believes that, as regards agriculture, REGIS II should include the necessary business management aspects for the development of new products: market studies, and promotional campaigns by the producer organizations; the programmes underway for veterinary and plant-health measures should be allowed to run their course (until December 1996) before being incorporated in REGIS II;

17.Believes that, as regards energy, REGIS II should include investment for supplying electricity to farms, taking into account the additional costs of preserving the countryside;

18.Believes that, as regards environment, REGIS II should include investment for preserving watercourses, lakes, ponds and mangrove swamps.

19.Notes that the high cost of energy supply and of transport, due to their remoteness and island status, pose a particular difficulty for the economic development of these regions and accordingly proposes, while fostering fair competitive conditions, a special regime to subsidize energy, transport and telecommunications by a rate equivalent to the cost estimated to be additional to these outermost regions taking as a base the nearest port, airport or telecommunications station situated in the mainland of the EU;

20.Draws attention, in this context, to the urgent need for these regions to be linked to telecommunications systems which make it possible to establish undertakings using modern technology;

21.Points out that the REGIS II initiative must not take the place of other Community instruments, particularly the Community support frameworks and the Cohesion Fund, which are more suited to the funding of large infrastructures;

22.Draws attention to the need to include as eligible measures the funding of activities similar to those included in the INTERREG initiative to promote cross-border cooperation, both with third countries and between the Community's outermost regions;

23.Underlines further the advantage of boosting cross-border cooperation with third countries and asks the Commission to ensure proper coordination of measures of this kind funded on Community territory by REGIS II and in third countries by the European Development Fund as part of regional cooperation, in the case of the ACP countries, or by other Community financial instruments in the case of other countries;

24.Points out that the protection and development of existing areas of natural beauty must be a possible field of activity under this initiative, together with traditional industries, particularly those based on locally-produced raw materials and craftsmanship;

25.Demands that priorities be made for women's programmes under this initiative and calls upon the Commission to earmark resources for programmes, proposals and actions targeting women and to report regularly to the European Parliament in this regard;

Community contribution to the funding of REGIS

26.Considers that the Community contribution to funding the operational programmes should take account of the level of unemployment in the regions concerned, in addition to the criteria indicated by the Commission;

27.Asks the Commission also to take into account, when assessing the quality of the programmes, the participation of regional and local authorities, together with the two sides of industry, in drawing them up and carrying them out;

28.Points out that, in accordance with the decision of the Edinburgh European Council, an effective increase in financial resources for the outermost regions must be guaranteed in terms both of Community initiatives and special option programmes with regard to the total amount allocated in the previous period;

Application

29.Notes that most of the regions benefiting from the REGIS II initiative enjoy considerable autonomy and accordingly considers it essential for the principle of partnership defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2081/93 be applied in full;

30.Considers the deadline of four months for submitting detailed proposals for operational programmes to be inadequate and asks the Commission to maintain the same deadline as in the REGIS I initiative, i.e. six months, bearing in mind in particular that the scope covered by the present period is wider than that of the previous phase;

31.Stresses the need to boost a sense of belonging to the European Union amongst the people of the outermost regions and accordingly considers that special attention should be given to measures to provide information on and publicity for schemes financed by REGIS II;

32.Believes that there must be, both during and at the end of the planning period, proper evaluation by the Commission of the results of the programmes submitted by Member States;

33.Recommends that an evaluation be made midway through the implementation of this initiative with a view to improving the efficiency with which resources are applied and taken up and making optimum use thereof so as to enable a decision to be made when the assessment has been completed on possible adjustments to the overall indicative amounts;

34.Calls on the Commission to report regularly to it on the implementation of this initiative;

35.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.