The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the
additional pressure triggered by Russia's war
against Ukraine and an increasing number of natural
disasters make it of urgent importance to deploy a
renewed and ambitious support strategy for Europe's
outermost regions – This is the key message
delivered by the European Committee of the Regions
(CoR) during its 8 February plenary session.
The five million EU citizens who live in outermost
regions – Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique,
Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, the Azores, Madeira and
the Canary Islands – face a range of specific
vulnerabilities, owing to the geographic
characteristics, remoteness and isolation of these
territories. These challenges have been compounded by a
succession of natural disasters, increasingly frequent
due to climate crisis, by the pandemic of COVID-19 as
well as by the war against Ukraine, which risks now
undermining their recovery.
The President of the European Committee of the Regions,
Vasco Alves Cordeiro
, who is himself from the Azores and a member of its
regional parliament, said:
"The EU's outermost regions are very rich
territories, which bring together great challenges,
great opportunities and great assets for the EU,
but they also face difficulties in moving forward
with other parts of Europe. The renewed Strategy
for these regions presented by the European
Commission puts the focus on the needs of people
living in the outermost regions and on economic
recovery and sustainable and inclusive growth. The
Committee of the Regions has been a strong advocate
of a proper and dedicated attention to these
regions. From the Committee, we will continue to
jointly defend an EU strategy for the outermost
regions, that takes into account their
specificities, promotes their attributes and also
brings their populations and institutions closer to
the common development project that is the EU."
In this context, the
opinion
drafted by
Pedro de Faria e Castro
(PT/EPP), Undersecretary of the Presidency of the
Azores Regional Government, urges the EU to update the
support policies and investment tools for European
regions located in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean,
South America and the Indian Ocean.
According to the rapporteur
Pedro de Faria e Castro
(PT - EPP), “
the outermost regions are territories which, in the
current geopolitical framework and systemic changes
in the European and international economy, offer a
wealth of opportunities to the EU. It is impossible
to capitalise on this potential without addressing
the structural weaknesses and constraints of these
territories, which require European policies to be
adapted. This is the essence of Article 349. Only a
policy adjusted to the specific characteristics of
the ORs will enable structural and sustainable
development, that brings hope to their populations.
This opinion is a further decisive step towards
providing the responses, which are essential in
order to face up to the challenging times in which
we live
.”
Portuguese MEP, Álvaro Amaro (PT/EPP) stated:
"This EU strategy is crucial for the outermost
regions, either by the diagnosis made or by
correctly contextualizing the complex economic,
social, and political moment we are experiencing.
The position of the European Parliament reinforces
the negotiating capacity of the outermost regions
and the respective Member States, both for a review
of the current Financial Framework and for the
Post-2027.For the benefit of EU outermost regions,
it is the EU's job to safeguard differentiated and
properly financed measures, creating more specific
European programs similar to POSEI-Agriculture.
Other essential areas should replicate its model."
The CoR's opinion draws attention to the urgent need to
address the significant social and economic
inequalities of the outermost regions relative to
mainland Europe and calls on the European Commission to
support these regions in the process of convergence
with the rest of the European Union.
Given the outermost regions' greater vulnerability due
to their remoteness and isolation from European
mainland, obligations to meet the new targets on
emissions and fuel taxation arising from the Fit for 55
package risk having a disruptive impact on remote
regions' economies and societies. The Committee
therefore urges policies to promote the energy autonomy
of these regions, through targeted support and the
development of policies that allow for an appropriate
and affordable transition from the current dependence
on fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources.
In their recommendations, EU regional and local leaders
also stress the role of outermost regions in
strengthening the maritime dimension of the European
Union, which has the world’s largest maritime area,
with an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of more than 25
million km2. The EU's EEZ offers the
prospect of major economic opportunities in the coming
years. In this light, the CoR welcomes the Commission's
commitment to review the reporting procedure
requirements and the provisions allowing state aid for
the renewal of the fishing fleet in these regions.
In proposals related to the tourism sector, which plays
a critical role in the development of the outermost
regions and has a major impact on their economic
growth, employment and regional development, the
Committee requests the European Commission to step up
the development of a European tourism policy that
provides for the creation of a European Tourism Agency,
supports the green and digital transition of European
tourist destinations and accelerates the economic
recovery from the pandemic of this strategic sector.
Finally, the CoR calls for pragmatic and tailored
solutions to be adopted as a matter of urgency,
systematically applying Article 349 of the TFEU, in
order to avoid the objective of economic, social and
sustainable recovery being undermined.
Background:
Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union
(TFEU) recognises the vulnerabilities
of outermost regions and the permanent structural
constraints that these regions face.
The EU's outermost regions are: Guadeloupe, French
Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, the
Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.
CoR members will discuss further the implementation of
the EU Strategy on the Outermost Regions at a seminar
in the Canary Islands on 7 March.
Contact:
Name: Ângela Machado
Tel. +32 0475 413158
angela.machado@cor.europa.eu