European Union News - Regional Policy

According to many delegations which met at the latest meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, the CAP reform package presented by the Commission does not take very much into account the six principles outlined in March 2011. Most of European Ministers also were agreed that the introduction of a definition of active farmer could significantly increase the administrative burden. Ministers also were briefed on the Russian ban of EU livestock and about the current drought situation in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Regional Development Committee at the European Parliament approved a proposal in which MEPs agreed that sharing investment risks by public and private investors could help to kick-start stalled regional development projects. Thus, Member States benefiting from EU macroeconomic assistance would be able to ask for part of their allocation of EU regional funding to be transferred to the European Commission for use in a risk-sharing scheme.
 

In the framework of the Water Forum and in order to prepare the Rio+20 summit, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) president, Mercedes Bresso and CoR vice-president Valcárcel Siso asked to encourage networking on the issue of water, both within Europe and in the broader perspective of sustainable development at a global level.

The European Commission has presented for the next programming period the "Common Strategic Framework" (CSF) proposal, which is intended to enable a far better combining of various funds to maximise the impact of EU investments. The CSF will be adopted in final form only once the legislative package on Cohesion Policy Funds is formally adopted by the Council and the European Parliament.

The RegioStars awards application process for the year 2013 is now open. These awards are aimed at identifying good practices in regional development and to highlight original and innovative projects which could be attractive and inspiring to other regions. The candidatures can be sent no later than the 20 of April 2012.

Eurostat has published its figures for the regional GDP per capital in 2009. According to these figures, twenty two regions had a GDP per capita below 50% of the average and seventeen regions, above 150%, ranging from the 27% of the EU average in the region of Severozapaden in Bulgaria, to 332% of the average in Inner London in the United Kingdom.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €200 million loan to the Castilla y León Region to finance its investment in RDI, heritage conservation and educational and social facilities. The loan's main advantage is its maturity of up to 20 years, which is far longer than the average currently offered by commercial banks.

COTER, the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy of the Committee of the Regions showed its support to the European Commission proposal for revising the TEN-T legislative framework. However this Commission also considers that the governance should be improved in a way to ensure a greater involvement of regional and local authorities.