SPEAKING NOTES FOR ALUN MICHAEL
STRATEGIC GUIDELINES AND THE NEW PERSPECTIVE FOR EU REGIONAL POLICY 2007-2013
As the representative of the Council during the UK Presidency, I am very pleased to have this chance to share with you the Council's views on the draft Community Strategic Guidelines, and to set out the Presidency’s programme for making swift progress towards the adoption of both the Guidelines and the package of Structural and Cohesion Funds Regulations.
The Council has warmly welcomed the Commission’s proposals to introduce a strategic approach to cohesion and a greater focus on the Lisbon agenda. The Community Strategic Guidelines will play an important role in delivering a reformed and more effective EU Regional Policy during the 2007 to 2013 programming period.
While the Structural Funds Regulations will set the legislative framework for future Structural Funds programmes, the Guidelines will provide a broader political vision for EU regional policy. So it’s crucial that we get them right. And the UK Presidency is committed to making rapid progress on both the Guidelines and the Regulations, so that we can adopt them as quickly as possible once we have reached agreement on the wider EC budget.
As the reform of the funds is so deeply interlinked with the ongoing negotiations on the budget, I ought to set out briefly the UK Presidency's plans for making progress in the Future Financing negotiations before commenting further on the Community Strategic Guidelines.
We understand and share concerns about the delay in reaching agreement on the budget. It is important to achieve early agreement to enable a prompt start to the next cycle of Structural Funds programmes, and we share the disappointment that it was not possible to reach agreement at the June European Council.
So we are eager to reach an agreement. But it has to be the right deal - one that equips the EU to deal effectively with the challenges of the 21st century, one that takes account of the wider debate on the direction of the Union, and one that meets the needs of the new Member States to ensure that EU enlargement continues to be a success.
After the June Council, we launched a series of consultations with all Member States to gain a clear understanding of their concerns. These consultations have now been completed. And we hope to make a new proposal in November, with political agreement for the December European Council.
As part of the process, we will need to work towards agreement on future Structural Funds spending. There continues to be a range of views, both in the Council and the Parliament, on the size of the Structural Funds budget and its distribution between the Member States and their regions.
Whereas there is general agreement on the important role that EU regional policy can play in ensuring solidarity, supporting economic regeneration and promoting cohesion, there is a range of opinions on how best to achieve this in practice.
For example, some Member States have questioned the element in the Commission’s proposals on funding for richer regions and richer Member States.
As the Presidency, we will take careful account of both the Member States’ positions and the Parliament’s concerns when attempting to move towards a consensus both on the EC budget and on future Structural Funds spending.
Turning to the Community Strategic Guidelines, Member States have responded positively to the Commission's proposals for a strategic approach to Cohesion. As we all know, enlargement has increased disparity levels, and has presented a very substantial challenge for the competitiveness and internal cohesion of the Union.
The great majority of Member States agree that in response to this, the Guidelines should strengthen and clarify the link between Structural Funds spending and the Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas. We need to ensure that regional policy contributes consistently to long-term and sustainable improvements in employment, productivity and competitiveness, rather than just transferring resources from richer to poorer regions.
The Member States first discussed the Commission’s proposals for a Strategic Approach at the Luxembourg Presidency’s informal ministerial meeting in May 2005. The vast majority welcomed the Commission’s proposals for the Guidelines and to ensure that Community priorities are better integrated into national and regional development programmes;
At that meeting, and in subsequent discussions, most Member States emphasised that the Guidelines should be indicative rather than prescriptive. While setting broad priorities for Structural Funds spending, they should allow Member States to decide how best to deliver the Community's objectives on their territory, respecting the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, setting a menu of options rather than offering a “one size fits all” approach.
It is clearly important to find a sensible balance between a strategic focus and the flexibility to respond to local conditions. All the more so, given our determination to achieve greater ownership of both cohesion policy and the Lisbon process on the ground.
Under any reform scenario, the Member States will receive very different levels of support from the Structural Funds. The Member States and their regions face a diverse range of economic challenges. And they must also be able to ensure complementarity with domestic programmes for regional development.
With these concerns in mind, the Member States broadly welcomed the flexible approach taken by the Commission in the draft Guidelines, which emphasise the need for Member States to develop the right policy mix for its own development, in the light of its particular economic, social and institutional conditions.
However, Member States still believe that certain sections of the Guidelines impose an unnecessarily restrictive focus on a limited number of priorities that might not be appropriate in all of our regions. There may be scope for greater flexibility in some areas. And we want to see that principle of flexibility applied consistently throughout the Guidelines.
Some Member States have expressed a concern that the focus on Lisbon might lead to losing sight of the wider objective of EU regional policy - to overcome disparities and support cohesion. I do not personally believe that there is any real danger of this. Cohesion and the Lisbon agenda are closely related, and a better alignment will make both policies more effective. A focus on interventions to support Lisbon will help to overcome disparities by ensuring that funding strengthens regional economies in the longer term.
In order to respond to some Member States’ concerns in this area, the UK Presidency has recently put forward new proposals for strategic reporting on Structural Funds spending, to ensure that we report both on the contribution made to the Lisbon process and on regional policy more generally. This will ensure that we do not lose sight of the wider objectives of the Structural Funds – namely to overcome regional disparities and promote cohesion.
The Member States broadly welcomed the Commission’s proposals to focus on priorities such as fostering skills, research and innovation, and creating more and better jobs. That is very encouraging. These are the activities that are most likely to strengthen regional economies in the long term, boosting productivity and employment. The Member States also welcomed the environmental aspects of the Guidelines, although some have suggested that the focus on Lisbon needs to be balanced by a greater attention to Gothenburg and sustainable development.
As I have said, we are eager to make swift progress towards agreement on the Guidelines during the UK Presidency. We have scheduled a discussion of the text in the Council Working Group at the end of October in order to identify any outstanding concerns. We have already made progress on technical issues, and we will continue to proceed according to a demanding work programme, and to work closely and constructively with the Commission and the Parliament. Personally, I would like to commend the Commission, the Parliament and the Member States for the positive work and the results achieved so far.
Clearly there is still a long way to go before agreement can be reached as a number of quite controversial issues still need to be resolved, but the UK Presidency will do its best to ensure that the Council is ready to agree its position on the package of regulations, and then the strategic guidelines, as soon as an inter-institutional agreement is reached on the Financial Perspective.