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Regions must be on board for cohesion to complement EU's economic governance says CPMR

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Informal-ECOFIN-Vilnius_13092013At the invitation of Rogier Van Der Sande, member of the Provincial Board of Zuid-Holland, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) Political Bureau met in Leiden, Netherlands on 14 February.

During the debates, opened by King's Commissioner of Zuid-Holland Province Jaap Smit, the CPMR delegates highlighted that cohesion is the main European investment policy and can better complement the EU’s economic governance to stimulate growth and jobs, but the territorial dimension has to be taken into account.

“The CPMR does not disagree with the fact that a co-ordinated and sound approach to monitor financial institutions and fiscal policies is needed to avoid crisis. However, we believe that EU economic governance cannot solely rely on a purely top-down process. Leaving regions out of the process ownership would put the overall EU economic governance at risk. We must not forget that the failure of the Lisbon strategy was due to the absence of a sense of ownership by territorial and socio-economic actors,” said CPMR and Regional Council of Skåne (SE) President Annika Annerby Jansson.

“According to the principle of subsidiarity, with regard to the country specific recommendations, the European Commission can only address member states. However, one cannot achieve targets at national level if decisions have been taken without listening to the regional and local level,” added Deputy Director General of DG Regional and Urban Policy Nicholas Martyn, underlining that future funding will allow regions “to play to their strengths”.

During the maritime session of the meeting, delegates addressed the environmental dimension of maritime Europe, strengthened through the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). According to the CPMR, this new approach and the possible directive on maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal management need to respect subsidiarity. The CPMR also called on member states to affirm clear references to blue growth and maritime renewable energies - as an axis for EU industrial policy - in the conclusions of the next European Councils dedicated to industries and maritime issues.

According to MEP Gesine Meissner, thanks to its President Corine Lepage and with support of the CPMR, the European Parliament’s Seas and Coastal Areas Intergroup was successful and is today a good platform. “Since I am going to run again for the European elections, I am ready to be president of this intergroup in the next term. CPMR played an important role in working with us, and we hope to keep good contacts in the future. The number of intergroups in the European Parliament is limited, so it is very important to take maritime issues on board such as islands or sea basins.”

Speaking on accessibility and maritime transport, José Anselmo, team leader at DG Move representing the European Commission, presented the new European context for the TEN-T Corridors and the Connecting Europe Facility, with particular focus on prospects for the Regions. “For the first time maritime regions are fundamentals in the TEN-T network. There is not a single corridor that does not start or end with a port.” Particularly on the CPMR, Anselmo also said: “Once the new coordinator on motorways of the sea will be appointed this year, a global road map study will be launched and we will need the contribution of all of you: if you want to play a special role we will very much like to use your network.”

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During the Political Bureau, Greek Permanent Representation Counsellor on Cohesion Policy and Structural Funds Eleftherios Stavropoulos, representing the Greek Presidency, and Norbert Van Den Hove, acting director for structural funds, Netherlands ministry of economic affairs, participated in the debates.

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