| s-302
| The Commission proposals refer to the four pillars of employment strategy and the five fields of action of the European Social Fund. |
| s-303
| It could be said that the omission gives the impression that the Commission too has no idea how to provide maximum coordination between European Social Fund assistance, which is subject to review after three and a half years, and the Member States' annual national plans for employment. |
| s-304
| We hope that the Commission can reassure us that this was an oversight which is now being dealt with constructively. |
| s-305
| Mr President, Commissioner, the proposal presented by the Commission, in accordance with its mandate, is a reasonable starting point for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. |
| s-306
| I would like to point out, however, that this starting point indicates to us the challenges which face us: |
| s-307
| maintaining a population in rural areas, given the changes taking place in all types of economic activity owing to agriculture's increasing lack of importance amongst the various sources of income for rural society. |
| s-308
| This, as well as the deficiencies in the networks of infrastructures and services and a generally very low level of employment, which furthermore is seasonal and lacks diversity, exacerbates the exodus from rural areas. |
| s-309
| The consequences do not inspire hope. |
| s-310
| It is the young people who are disappearing, who are getting an education and finding work outside of the rural areas, all of which has an unfavourable effect on those areas. |
| s-311
| This lack of infrastructure is also an obstacle to the establishment of companies and the creation of jobs. |
| s-312
| Agriculture only provides 5.5% of employment in the Union. |
| s-313
| Furthermore, three quarters of our farm workers are part-time and require supplements to their incomes. |
| s-314
| For this reason, one of the most important and essential objectives which we should set in the European Union is to make efforts to create new jobs in rural areas, outside of the agricultural sector, in sectors such as rural tourism, sport, culture, heritage conservation, the conversion of businesses, new technologies, services, etc.. |
| s-315
| However, even though the role of agriculture is not exclusive, it is still essential, not only to prevent economic and social disintegration and the creation of ghost towns, but also because farmers play a fundamental role in managing the land, in preserving biodiversity and in protecting the environment. |
| s-316
| It is important to prioritise general criteria for land planning and demographic equilibrium, and to bear in mind the conclusions of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on the five fundamental issues, which have been only partly taken up by the Committee on Transport, Regional Policy and Tourism in its points 16 and 17. |
| s-317
| In conclusion, I would ask the Commission to take these five points into account when establishing the conclusions on the four pillars because I believe that, for the European Union, maintaining the population in rural areas must be one of the priority objectives. |
| s-318
| Mr President, Commissioner, I would like to begin by thanking Mrs Schroedter, the rapporteur, for her work. |
| s-319
| I would also like to thank her for her willingness to enter into dialogue with the other political groups when compromise formulas have needed to be reached in the face of this avalanche of amendments - and perhaps there are more of them than we expected - but which genuinely reflect the importance of the report we are now discussing. |
| s-320
| We feel that it is important that the Commission takes account of the conclusions adopted by this Parliament, at least in spirit, because at this stage, it might seem as though what we are doing here is a useless exercise, and nothing but hot air. |
| s-321
| In our amendments, we have stated the importance of the necessary synergies being produced between the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund and Community initiatives, so that their application should be reflected, in the best and most profitable way, by the gradual elimination of disparities between regions and by the creation of jobs which are, when all is said and done, the two central purposes of the funds we are discussing. |
| s-322
| In order to achieve a more rapid and efficient boost for attaining these objectives, we think that those who generate employment, the real entrepreneurs and those who really guarantee new sources of employment, that is, businesspeople, must participate in this initiative. |
| s-323
| Small and medium-sized businesses, above all, need to take part in the distribution of these funds. |
| s-324
| If they do not, if businesspeople feel marginalised, if entrepreneurs cannot take part, not only in managing but also in receiving these funds, we will have missed an opportunity to attain our objectives more rapidly. |
| s-325
| Also, in order to attain our objectives, to overcome the disparities between regions and to seek out sources of employment, it is crucial to give our complete support to new technologies, to transport and communications networks and to renewable energies. |
| s-326
| All of this must be done - I repeat - with the participation of private business, which, by uniting its efforts with those of public administrations, but complementing them, never obstructing or excluding them, will lead to the creation of wealth in society and of jobs. |
| s-327
| Mr President, it is incumbent upon me to remind my colleague, Mr Evans, of why Wales actually achieved Objective 1 status. |
| s-328
| It was because of the discredited policies of his own Conservative Party. |
| s-329
| Let me also remind him that when his party leader, Mr Hague, was Secretary of State for Wales, he broke every rule in the book on additionality which led to a stern letter from Commissioner Wulf-Mathies regarding regulatory requirements. |
| s-330
| I can tell you that the British Government is aware of its regulatory requirements on Objective 1 additionality. |
| s-331
| I suggest Mr Evans goes back and reads the Regulation. |
| s-332
| My Group has made extensive amendments to both reports up for debate today. |
| s-333
| I want to focus our minds on the essential role of the guidelines. |
| s-334
| It is important to identify the skills and potential of our regions in the hi-tech sector. |
| s-335
| It is particularly important in the light of reports in the media that Europe is rapidly losing ground to the US in the hi-tech growth industries of the future. |
| s-336
| They should not be about creating additional layers of bureaucracy and red tape. |
| s-337
| The implementation and operation of the guidelines cannot be left to the personal interpretation of one or other desk officer, either in the Commission or in thecivil service. |
| s-338
| There must be an internal coherence in the Commission directorate, while respecting the specific local and regional aspects of Commission programmes. |
| s-339
| The conclusion is that we must make the case for guidelines to be broad, indicative and flexible to assist our programme managers and fund-users and to get the maximum potential out of our new fields of regeneration. |
| s-340
| The rapporteur has also quite rightly stated that Parliament was not heard in time regarding the guidelines. |
| s-341
| Hopefully, the stands Parliament has taken will help, however, in the mid-term appraisal of the programmes and in their practical implementation. |
| s-342
| For the time, the report grew too large when it was being debated. |
| s-343
| At this stage it is more important to concentrate on assessing how we can use this process to steer Union regional policy, bearing in mind that the aim is to reduce regional inequality. |
| s-344
| Our Group emphasises the importance of the principle of subsidiarity, the responsibility of Member States and the role of local players in drafting and implementing programmes. |
| s-345
| It is especially important to get SMEs involved in the planning and implementation of programmes. |
| s-346
| Our Group also considers it important to take greater account of remote and peripheral areas and wishes to increase interaction between towns and rural areas. |
| s-347
| Projects implemented with support from the Union have had their effect watered down all too often by slow decision making and complicated administrative processes. |
| s-348
| Funds have often been granted for projects which have had no lasting benefit for the area concerned. |
| s-349
| Projects have to be carried out more efficiently, more flexibly and they have to be made more productive. |
| s-350
| While the report was being prepared, it was interesting to discuss the Union's regional policy in general. |
| s-351
| For us new members, it was the first time, and this was a very interesting process. |
| s-352
| This report is very good and our Group supports it. |
| s-353
| Mr President, Commissioner, as proof that this Parliament has not yet overcome its role as a consultative and subordinate institution, the excellent report by a fellow member of my Group, Elisabeth Schroedter, has not been able to reach plenary sitting because the plans for regional development for the period 2000-2006 for Objective 1 regions have been sitting in the Commission's offices for several months. |
| s-354
| Bearing this in mind, this House should, in any event, demand that, before the Community support frameworks for the period in question are approved, they be studied and submitted for debate in this Parliament, specifically in light of the guidelines that we have presented today. |
| s-355
| Mr President, we should not forget that the main, strategic objective of the Structural and Cohesion Funds and of their coordination is to achieve economic and social cohesion. |
| s-356
| We are obliged to participate in drafting Directives and also in assessing their results. |
| s-357
| We are obliged to do so because we are the representatives of the citizens in a Europe of Citizens and not just in a Europe of States and of Regions. |
| s-358
| We feel that the Funds are a necessary but insufficient condition for achieving economic and social cohesion. |
| s-359
| We might be mistaken in using the gross domestic product per inhabitant as the sole indicator. |
| s-360
| Some speakers have already mentioned unemployment and the fall in population. |
| s-361
| We will have to study several indicators, which will enable us to see the current state of regional societies that are in a worse situation than others, and how they are evolving. |
| s-362
| It is clear from some of the reports that have been presented to Parliament's plenary sitting today that Europe's 25 most prosperous regions enjoy a level of unemployment which is five times lower than in the 25 least prosperous regions. |
| s-363
| This fact means that the European Parliament, the Commissioner and the Commission must act decisively and strategically. |
| s-364
| I agree that the European Parliament did not have the opportunity - or that it was not given the opportunity, as we had reached the end of the parliamentary term - to discuss the Directives. |
| s-365
| I do not think, however, that this report has come too late. |
| s-366
| We all agree that we should ask that, halfway through these programmes, when the assessment of the Directives is made, Parliament should be given an equally influential role on the grounds that we are the citizens' representatives. |
| s-367
| Our citizens cannot accept that the European Union takes decisions in a way that is, at least on the face of it, bureaucratic. |
| s-368
| They need to see the political dimension working, to see that officials accept their responsibilities and that there is communication with the citizens. |
| s-369
| This is what we are today asking the Commissioner for. |
| s-370
| I would like to think that, given his previous experience as a regional President, he will agree to propose indicators, and a strategy, which will favour economic and social cohesion and not just productivity. |
| s-371
| Mr President, I support the main proposals of the report concerning the administration of the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund for the period 2000-2006 and the main recommendations of the report which include the following: |
| s-372
| Member States are urged to attach greater importance to integrated strategies for revitalising relations between towns and rural areas. |
| s-373
| This process will continue in accordance with the financial spending guidelines laid down by the EU leaders at their Berlin Summit last year, which were supported by Parliament at its last May plenary part-session. |
| s-374
| Key EU programmes between 1989, 1993, 1994 and 1999 have certainly helped to improve the economic competitiveness of peripheral countries and Objective 1 regions within Europe. |
| s-375
| In conclusion, while key infrastructure projects have been supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund, we should remember that the European Social Fund has played a very important role in helping the less well-off in our society. |
| s-376
| The Social Fund has certainly improved our third-level institutions, financed our post-leaving certificate programmes and put in place comprehensive schemes to help combat youth and long-term unemployment, assist early school leavers and promote higher standards of adult literacy. |
| s-377
| Mr President, on numerous occasions in the past I have disagreed with the rapporteur on her approach to regional policy issues. |
| s-378
| The second point I would like to make is that we would have preferred it if the guidelines had been added to the Regulation in the form of an annex, as we and Mrs Mccarthy, as rapporteurs for the general Regulation, had asked. |
| s-379
| I am raising the issue just to reiterate Parliament's position. |
| s-380
| They are particularly beneficial to the Member States, and I would particularly like to draw your attention to the emphasis the Commission has placed on the issues of sustainable development, job creation and, more particularly, on equal opportunities and transport issues. |
| s-381
| Personally, I at least am totally in favour of the guidelines. |
| s-382
| As an islander, however, I would like to express my dissatisfaction at the lack of recognition of island development. |
| s-383
| This is not the first time that this issue has not been given the consideration it deserves. |
| s-384
| Commissioner, we shall continue to raise the issue, as Article 158, paragraph 1, of the Treaty of Amsterdam provides for an integrated policy for islands. |
| s-385
| Therefore, the Commission should address the issue once and for all. |
| s-386
| As for us in Parliament, I would like to remind you of the code of conduct between the Commission and Parliament which was signed in May. |
| s-387
| I am absolutely certain that this code will be observed and that Parliament will keep abreast of all the developments and details concerning the implementation of the programmes. |
| s-388
| Mr President, Commissioner, in this minute and a half I should like, first of all, to congratulate Mrs Schroedter. |
| s-389
| I know many have already done so, but she has indeed earned our praise for being particularly open and attentive to proposals from all sides, and I think it is this openness which has given her report the quality we see today. |
| s-390
| I share the regrets she expressed, namely that Parliament has become involved rather late in the day as regards these guidelines, since by now the procedure for negotiations with the states is so far advanced that I cannot see this report having any sort of immediate effect, which in my view is a pity. |
| s-391
| In brief, I would like to say that we are entering the period when we are called upon to manage the programming for 2000-2006, which must be no routine period for the good reason that we have two major challenges to face. |
| s-392
| The first is the harmonisation of national development policies and regional development policies. |
| s-393
| Subsidies are not enough to ensure development when infrastructure and public services are lacking. |
| s-394
| We must ask ourselves a fundamental question: |
| s-395
| The second challenge is that of enlargement which will, of course, have a considerable impact, both in budgetary and geographical terms. |
| s-396
| These are two areas of action which I invite the Commissioner to set up and in which I would ask him to involve us. |
| s-397
| Finally, in this time of natural disasters, I would just like to mention the issue of the use of Structural Funds. |
| s-398
| As you know, it is up to each State to redistribute part of the total appropriation. |
| s-399
| Europe should not be completely absent, as the states tend to want. |
| s-400
| Public opinion and the press nowadays accuse us of being unavailable to give a response, even though we are going to be funding a large proportion of the national operations. |
| s-401
| I think we should be capable of saying this loud and clear. |