The European Parliament has called for a strategy adapted to the special needs of islands and mountainous regions in Europe, in order to meet the Lisbon Treaty mandate and help them to overcome their inherent disadvantages and exploit their resources better. Although sparsely populated these regions represent around 10% of the population of the European Union.

The European Parliament considers that the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty which recognizes the special conditions of mountain regions, islands and sparsely populated areas must be translated into specific development strategies and concrete actions. Its natural or demographic handicaps require special attention and measures.

For those reasons, the House proposed that these regions continue to benefit from specific provisions in the new financial framework, starting in 2014.

While MEPs consider that Gross Domestic Product must continue to be the key yardstick for qualifying for regional aid, they urge the Commission and Member States to work on other indicators that give a fuller picture of the development of these areas. 

Existing instruments, such as the European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation and the European Neighbourhood Policy, can be used to overcome the obstacles to territorial cooperation and make use of the resources available across borders, says Parliament's resolution. It also argues in favour of dropping distance-related criteria (150 km) for islands to qualify as border regions eligible for funding under cross-border cooperation programmes.