Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions

(2023/C 157/04)

Rapporteur: Pedro DE FARIA E CASTRO (PT/EPP), Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency of the Regional Government of the Azores Reference document: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions COM(2022) 198 final

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR),

1.

highlights the permanent structural constraints faced by the outermost regions, as identified in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic;

2.

recognises that the EU’s strategy for the outermost regions has proved its worth in deepening measures to safeguard the specific nature of these regions within the EU framework. However, the situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the urgent need to address current and future economic, social, cultural and environmental challenges, has highlighted the need for the 2017 strategy entitled A stronger and renewed strategic partnership with the EU’s outermost regions to be thoroughly revamped;

3.

welcomes the fact that the European Commission follows the CoR’s recommendation to adapt the EU strategy for the outermost regions in view of the severe consequences of the pandemic, as proposed in the CoR Opinion on the European Commission’s report on the implementation of the renewed strategic partnership with the EU’s outermost regions, rapporteur Ángel Víctor Torres Pérez (1), and in the European Parliament’s report Towards a stronger partnership with the EU outermost regions (2);

4.

notes the various initiatives by the outermost regions to breathe new life into the European Commission’s strategy, highlighting the political declaration of the presidents of the outermost regions adopted at the mid-term meeting of the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions on 3 May 2021 in the Azores;

5.

highlights the strengthening of the partnership between the Commission, the Member States and the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions in the process of drawing up this strategy, which has led to a fruitful ongoing dialogue through specific platforms and working groups;

6.

welcomes the European Commission Communication entitled Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions, which follows on from the positions expressed by the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions, both in the final declaration of 18 November 2021 (Ponta Delgada, Azores) and in the contribution of 19 January 2022, adopted jointly with France, Spain and Portugal;

7.

welcomes the Commission’s commitment to strengthening dialogue and providing tailored support to these regions so that they can fully benefit from EU policies and harness their potential, thus helping to strengthen the EU’s presence in the zones of influence of these regions;

8.

recognises the importance of this new communication and stresses the need for coordinated action by supranational, national, regional and local authorities and for swift implementation of the proposed measures. Given the multiple crises, stresses the urgent need for immediate, effective responses to ensure these regions’ economic, social and sustainable recovery;

9.

regrets that the new Commission communication fails to address some of the policies essential to the development of the outermost regions adequately;

10.

underlines that the vulnerabilities of these regions, recognised in Article 349 of the TFEU, are being further accentuated by a succession of natural disasters, which are becoming increasingly frequent due to global warming, and the growing scale and intensity of which in the outermost regions remain a cause for serious concern;

11.

notes that the war in Ukraine is putting additional pressure on these already vulnerable regions and is undermining post-health crisis recovery. The purchasing power of families is now seriously affected and the different business sectors are suffering as a result of the significant new costs alongside the additional structural costs arising from the structural constraints faced by these regions;

12.

welcomes the conclusions of the Council of the European Union of 21 June 2022 on this Commission communication of 3 May and stresses its importance for the implementation of this new strategy for the outermost regions;

13.

urges the concerned Member States to support their outermost regions in building administrative capacity and in boosting skills development to fully benefit from EU programmes;

14.

welcomes the Commission communication’s observation that the outermost regions do not resemble, either in fact or in law, other European regions with specific geographical characteristics, such as islands, mountain areas or regions with low population density;

Addressing people’s needs

15.

welcomes the Commission’s focus on the needs of people living in the outermost regions, on economic recovery and on sustainable and inclusive growth that meets these needs;

16.

draws attention to the urgent need to address the significant social and economic inequalities of the outermost regions compared to mainland Europe and calls on the European Commission to support these regions in the process of convergence with the rest of the European Union;

17.

welcomes the European Commission’s emphasis on the importance of supporting the specific needs of the outermost regions in implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights and in achieving the 2030 targets of the Porto Social Summit on employment, skills and reducing poverty;

Attending to the challenge of migration

18.

calls for strong, resolute support from the European institutions to face migration crises, especially in the EU’s external border regions, which bear sole responsibility for receiving unaccompanied minors arriving there and providing them with access to basic services, as well as for supporting their passage into adulthood;

19.

recalls the importance of adequate funding under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF), ensuring that they are regionalised in order to facilitate access to funds, especially in crisis situations, such as those experienced regularly by some outermost regions, such as the Canary Islands, Guiana or Mayotte, and welcomes the commitment given on this matter by the Commission in its new strategy;

20.

looks forward to further progress on the Migration and Asylum Pact, in the light of lessons learned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, exploring the possibility of triggering Council Directive 2001/55/EC (3) for migrants from other conflict zones having a major impact on the EU, along with the new measures introduced by the CARE Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), in order to achieve ensure genuine solidarity and a fair sharing of the migration burden among all Member States;

Green transition

21.

welcomes the Commission’s acknowledgement of the outermost regions’ need for particular measures to adapt to climate change, as they are particularly exposed to its impact, including extreme weather events;

22.

underlines the Commission’s commitment to continue to take due account of the outermost regions when implementing the EU Solidarity Fund, as well as its commitment to support risk prevention and resilience measures with regard to natural disasters and to promote the exchange of knowledge between the outermost regions and their neighbours;

23.

calls for account to be taken of the impact of the Fit for 55 legislative package, which will have a major impact on the competitiveness and connections of the outermost regions, systematically and comprehensively applying Article 349 TFEU, following the drafting of impact assessment studies. On the basis of these studies, solutions must be adopted that are tailored to the outermost regions, adapting legislation where necessary, with a view to ensuring fair treatment for communities already facing extra costs due to their remoteness and securing access for households and businesses in these highly vulnerable regions to the Social Climate Fund and the Modernisation Fund and access to funding for small-scale projects under the Innovation Fund;

24.

warns, in this regard, of the greater vulnerability of these regions due to their remoteness and isolation from the European mainland and, consequently, of the impact that meeting the new targets on emissions and fuel taxation arising from the Fit for 55 package will have on them;

25.

points out that the outermost regions are isolated energy systems which cannot be connected to the mainland, and calls on the European institutions to promote the energy autonomy of these regions through support and promotion policies that allow an appropriate, affordable transition to be made from the current dependence on fossil fuels to sustainable systems;

Reducing the accessibility gap

26.

highlights the outermost regions’ total dependence on reliable and affordable air and sea transport for the mobility of their inhabitants and for the supply of essential goods, in the absence of land-based transport alternatives, which places a heavy financial burden on residents and is inherently detrimental to local economies and the public interest;

27.

considers that it is impossible to promote equality, inclusion and development in the outermost regions without a strategy to reduce their remoteness and isolation. This must involve additional measures to compensate for accessibility handicaps and to close the digital divide, in order to develop the outermost regions and give greater prominence to their economies and the permanent structural problems of remoteness. Highlights the importance of the single market emergency instrument taking the outermost regions into account in order to secure supply chains in times of crisis;

28.

as recommended by the European Parliament in its Report Towards a stronger partnership with the EU outermost regions, calls on the Commission to assess the need to provide support for the transport sector as an additional instrument to offset the disadvantages and losses arising from the costs of passenger and freight transport;

29.

calls for support for projects to make the outermost regions more connected. In this regard, draws attention to the issue of support for underwater cables, which is still a key challenge for the security of data flows, and also for quality of service and affordability. For example, Réunion and the Autonomous Region of the Azores will soon be faced with the obsolescence of their submarine electronic communications cables. Satellite technology should also be considered for certain territories, such as French Guiana, as fibre cannot be installed in all inhabited areas;

Agriculture and rural development

30.

stresses the importance of the agricultural sector for the economy, the environment, spatial planning and employment in the outermost regions, as recognised by the EU as it introduces specific treatment through the Programme of Options Specifically Relating to Remoteness and Insularity (POSEI) scheme and provides for specific derogations in the common agricultural policy (CAP), and calls for these provisions to be maintained;

31.

is pleased to note that the state aid instruments for aid to support agriculture, forestry and rural areas allow higher maximum aid intensity rates for investments in the outermost regions and operating aid, and that the Commission has proposed to continue providing special conditions for these regions in the ongoing review of these instruments;

32.

stresses, however, the importance of specific provisions for the outermost regions regarding de minimis aid in view of the extra costs affecting any undertaking operating in the sector of primary production of agricultural products in the outermost regions;

33.

considers, with regard to the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), that opting for centralised management of strategic plans runs counter to the desired simplification, effectiveness and efficiency objectives, and hopes that the negative impact of this can be minimised by making procedures sufficiently flexible and decentralised, with regard to the implementation of strategic plans in the outermost regions;

34.

calls for close interinstitutional cooperation to ensure that the POSEI budget, an essential instrument for supporting the sustainability of local production and for adapting the CAP to the specific characteristics of the outermost regions, can be increased in response to evidence of its chronic under-budgeting and the real needs of the outermost regions, so that the programme can keep pace with developments in the agricultural sectors of these regions and can continue to meet its objectives;

Blue economy and fisheries

35.

points out that the outermost regions strengthen the maritime dimension of the European Union, making it the world’s largest maritime area, forming an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of more than 25 million km2 and offering major economic opportunities;

36.

welcomes the importance attached to the outermost regions with regard to the traditional fisheries sector and blue economy strategies for the coming years, as well as the Commission’s commitment to review the reporting procedure requirements and the provisions allowing state aid for the renewal of the fishing fleet in these regions, taking into account their specific characteristics and supporting those working in the fishing industry while ensuring sustainable fisheries;

State aid

37.

welcomes the commitment given by the Commission in its communication to continue taking into account these regions’ specificities in the revision of state aid regulations and guidelines across sectors, based on the existing provisions for these regions in EU state aid legislation; calls for State aid schemes to be more flexible;

38.

stresses that particular attention should be paid to the state aid rules that strengthen and encourage the connections of the outermost regions, specifically when it comes to revision of the Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines and aid for maritime transport, as well as to the ongoing revision of the state aid regulations for environmental protection, where an investment aid category should be added to enable businesses in the outermost regions to comply with the environmental standards set by the EU;

39.

calls for the creation of a forum for the outermost regions and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition to reflect on the concept of aid with a ‘purely local impact’, bearing in mind that over 90 % of companies located in the outermost regions are micro- and small enterprises with limited financial means and that aid to these regions cannot affect competition on the internal market, as it targets purely local activities;

40.

stresses, furthermore, the importance of ensuring the continuity of all tax systems in the outermost regions, as any break could seriously destabilise the economies and jobs in those regions;

Tourism

41.

draws attention to the key role played by the tourism sector in the development of the outermost regions, as it is a cross-cutting economic activity that has a huge effect on economic growth, employment and regional development;

42.

points to the substantial impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on this sector, which caused an unprecedented downturn in its activity;

43.

stresses the sector’s vulnerability, which is highly exposed to geopolitical, health and climate externalities and is dependent on air and sea links;

44.

highlights the need to promote investments that are innovative, sustainable and resilient to support the sustainable development of this strategic sector;

45.

calls on the European Commission to further develop a European tourism policy in order to include the creation of a European Tourism Agency, to support the dual transition of European tourist destinations and to speed up the recovery of this sector, which is key for these regions; endorses the European Parliament’s warning on the need to take into account the special characteristics and additional constraints of these regions when formulating and evaluating this policy, ensuring adequate funding to safeguard their accessibility and their climate and digital transitions;

External dimension

46.

recognises that the outermost regions’ triple level of belonging (European, national and regional) entails, firstly, taking greater advantage of the benefits of the internal market and, secondly, integrating better into the immediate environment by strengthening relations with neighbouring third countries and partners, while always taking into account the outermost regions’ concerns in trade negotiations and agreements;

47.

stresses that the different geographical areas in which the outermost regions are located have distinct characteristics, challenges and opportunities, and that it is therefore essential to build together a strategy for each of these areas, based on a prior diagnosis, in order to identify the main common challenges and exploit the full potential of deeper cooperation;

48.

emphasises that this preliminary assessment must be based on a two-fold approach: consideration, on the one hand, of the challenges facing the EU in these areas, and, on the other, of the effects of these challenges on the European territories located in these areas, as well as the responses that can be provided by the EU;

49.

welcomes the commitment given by the European Commission in its communication to identify regional cooperation opportunities and the challenges facing the outermost regions, to identify the main areas for cooperation, to develop opportunities and support collaboration and to promote exchanges between the outermost regions. It furthermore urges the concerned Member States to promote cooperation in these areas between the outermost regions and overseas countries and territories, as well as with third countries. It encourages the other Member States to promote cooperation and exchanges between their regions and the outermost regions;

50.

calls on the Commission to take into account the role and specific situations of the outermost regions when reviewing geographical strategies and to include the outermost regions in the consultation mechanisms;

Conclusions

51.

calls for pragmatic and tailored solutions to be adopted as a matter of urgency, systematically applying Article 349 of the TFEU, in order to avoid the objective of economic, social and sustainable recovery being undermined;

52.

draws attention to the need to effectively boost the promotion of competitiveness and prior assessment of the impact of EU policies on the outermost regions, with place-based approaches, guaranteeing the protection of their citizens’ incomes;

53.

calls on the European Commission to draw up an operational roadmap and a timetable jointly with the outermost regions and their Member States.

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(1)  OJ C 37. 2.2.2021, p. 57.

(2)  Report — Towards a stronger partnership with the EU outermost regions.

(3)  Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof (OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12).

(4)  Regulation (EU) 2022/562 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 223/2014 as regards Cohesion’s Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) (OJ L 109, 8.4.2022, p. 1).