Chairman Galeote,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Parliamentarians,
I am happy to be here to speak with you about the focal points of the EU's structural policy under the German Presidency. Thank you for inviting me to the Committee meeting. And thank you for your flexibility in scheduling the visit for today at short notice. The time available to us is brief, but it will at least give us the chance for an exchange of views at the very beginning of the new Presidency, and that would appear to me to be important.
Germany has now had the Council Presidency for a good three weeks. We have already taken the first practical hurdles such as the events surrounding the shut-down of the Druzhba oil pipeline. German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to the Parliament in plenary session last week and presented the basic outlines of our Presidency. Following a good tradition, I now want to describe more closely the focuses of the European Union's structural policy under our Presidency. Thanks to the good work of previous Presidencies, the overall conditions are in place for starting the new assistance period on January 1, 2007. And that is a reason to celebrate.
But first, I want to give you a brief overview of the events that will take place during our Presidency, then follow with some remarks on the beginning of the new assistance period, and close with a brief outlook on the future of structural policy.
First of all, the events.
Our central structural policy event will be the cohesion-policy ceremonies in the Bavarian town of Hof held on Europe Day, May 9, 2007. We have purposely selected this town near the Czech border to call attention to the special importance of the European Union's structural policy, also for the new Member States. The German Council Presidency gives us the welcome opportunity to call greater attention to Structural Funds policy, to give appropriate recognition to its contributions in helping the regions, and to highlight its significance there. That will all be done at the May 9 ceremonies.
But the future of the Structural Funds should also be addressed, and to do so we are planning a comprehensive podium discussion. As Presidency, we are very interested in having a representative from your Committee participate in the discussion by outlining the position of the European Parliament. I therefore look forward to welcoming you to the town of Hof.
Another event under the German Presidency is the specialized Conference on Metropolitan Regions, which will be held in Berlin on March 14, 2007. It will concentrate on the important role of cities, their competitiveness, and local economies. On May 24 and 25, 2007, there will be an informal meeting of Ministers on Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion in Leipzig. The goal there will be the adoption of the Territorial Agenda of the EU and the Leipzig Charter with guidelines for sustainable urban development in Europe.
The events I have named are already part of the new 2007 - 2013 assistance period.
But we will be able ceremoniously to usher in the new assistance period at Hof only if the assistance period can begin on time. At EU level we adopted the Structural Funds Regulations and Community Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion already quite some time ago. We are now in the important phase of putting together and submitting the program planning documents. In this connection, considerable work must still be done by the Member States and the Commission. As MEPs, you will surely also be involved in this process in one way or another.
During our Presidency, the Member States must submit a National Strategic Framework Plan for the first time. The Plan is to be closely linked to the National Reform Programs aimed at implementing the Lisbon Strategy and oriented more closely to Community priorities (competitiveness, innovation, more and better jobs, etc.).´
Now that the first National Strategic Framework Plan (Malta) has already been approved by the Commission, I am confident that the framework plans of the other Member States will be expeditiously approved by the Commission. This will open the doors for approval of the Operational Programs, and a smooth transition from the 2000 - 2006 to 2007 - 2013 assistance periods would thus be guaranteed.
Also, for most of the programs in connection with the goal of European Territorial Coherence, I hope that the launching steps can be taken this year. Coordination can often be difficult, particularly for programs that bring together partners from two and more Member States. But the fact that submissions have already been made for the first programs shows that we work well together in Europe. Now it is up to the Commission to issue approvals without undue delay so that we can soon assist the first projects.
You have worked hard for the Interregional Cooperation Programs and succeeded in having the budget increased at the last stage of negotiations. If all goes well, we can celebrate the approval of the INTERREG IV C program under our Presidency at Hof on May 9. That would be a major success!
An important element in the new programs for interregional cooperation (INTERREG IV C and Urbact II) will be the implementation of the Regions for Economic Change Initiative. I welcome this Initiative whose purpose is the exchange of experience among the regions. Learning from one's neighbors is an intelligent and efficient approach in the effort to achieve strategic goals. The Commission's initiative can serve as a constructive element in this connection.´
I want, however, to call attention to the results of the informal meeting of Ministers responsible for regional policy that was held under the Finnish Presidency. The Ministers called for leaving the initiative for the networks with the regions themselves. The selection and conducting of the networks should be as transparent and non-bureaucratic as possible. I assume that you agree with me in that regard.
Let me now close with some remarks on the future of structural policy. It was originally planned for the Commission to submit the Fourth Cohesion Report in the first half of 2007. At the subsequent Cohesion Form, a first exchange of thoughts on the future of the EU's structural assistance should be conducted. Our contacts with the Commission, however, indicate that the Report will not be submitted by the Commission for discussion until September 2007.
Nevertheless, I have been very interested to see that you have taken on the topic of the "impacts of future enlargement on the effectiveness of cohesion policy." We can't be early enough in undertaking analyses that look into the future. The following thoughts could be significant in this regard, even though the actual discussion will be undertaken only in the wake of the Fourth Cohesion Report. There will be increasing pressure on the EU's Structural Funds assistance to fulfill the cohesion mandate while making sure that the measures remain financable. It would appear to be true that the interests of the individual Member States will increasingly diverge in proportion to the incipient differences of the prosperity levels upon the accession of new Member States. In further developing our structural policy, we will thus have to accomplish the famous task of "squaring the circle." For a simple continuation of the EU Structural Funds is obviously not the endless solution to the problem. And that is also true for the future enlargements of the European Union. It is more than desirable therefore to make early efforts to develop models that meet these needs.
Against this background, we have read your report with great interest, Representative Pieper. I greatly welcome the paper as a contribution to a comprehensive process of arriving at a position and I am interested to see how the further deliberation develops. However, discussions will be launched with the consideration of the Fourth cohesion Report, presumably not until the Portuguese Presidency.
"Europe - Succeeding Together" is the motto of our Presidency program. Europe must show that it can shape both domestic and foreign policy in a globalized world in accordance to its own ideals and values. Structural policy can help us accomplish some of these ideals and values. European regional policy is an expression of solidarity. More than a third of the European Union's budget is spent on reducing the development gaps among the regions and the prosperity differences among our citizens. The goal is to strengthen the economic, social, and territorial cohesion of the EU.
With the beginning of the assistance period 2007 - 2013, the German Presidency wants to help make a successful start into a new structural policy segment. And we want to do so by working together, in keeping with the motto of our Presidency program. Europe can only succeed on the basis of collaboration - in this and in all other areas.
But let us first celebrate the start of a new assistance period. I look forward to seeing many of you again in Hof!
