EU urged to carry out radical review of regional policy

The EU has been urged to carry out an “in-depth” review of the future of its regional policy.

The call follows the commission’s launch last September of a consultation exercise on regional policy and cohesion funds.

It effectively signalled the starting bell for a wide debate on a policy which, after 2013, will account for the biggest slice of the EU annual budget.

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has now joined forces with the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in calling for a radical review of regional policy after 2013, when the current spending period ends.

In a letter, CoR president Michel Delebarre  says, “To face the challenges of the 21st century and to give the latest EU enlargement a chance of success, it is imperative to carry out an in-depth consideration of the future of the policy which, after 2013, will become the top EU policy in budgetary terms.

“European regions constitute tangible evidence of the effectiveness of regional policy. Nevertheless, its modernisation is unavoidable.”

The French politician added, “Which underlying principles must there be for the policy in the decade to come?

“Which objectives must be assigned to it? It is these fundamental questions which we must examine in this early stage of the debate.”

Claudio Martini, president of the Rennes-based CPMR, which represents maritime regions, said, “The debate on the future of Europe after 2013 has been eagerly awaited.

“This has been the case since last September and the review of the EU budget on the one hand and the future of cohesion policy on the other.

“But how can you think about the future of the budget without thinking at the same time of the policies that it will finance?

Delebarre and Martini will press their call for a review of the policy during a seminar in Seville at the weekend, attended by Danuta Hubner, the EU regional policy commissioner and Dirk Ahner, director general in the commission’s regional policy directorate.

The seminar, ‘What future for EU regional policies after 2013?’, has been jointly organised by the Andalusian government.

Martini, who is based in Tuscany, said, ““In Seville, it is important to reflect on future regional policy without the discussion being ‘polluted’ by financial considerations.”

 

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