3.12.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 353/122

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having regard to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

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having regard to the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’ (COM(2011)0782),

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having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on 14 June 2010 concerning the European Union strategy for the Atlantic area,

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having regard to the European Union Strategies for the Baltic Sea Region and the Danube Region,

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having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2011 on the European Strategy for the Atlantic Region (1),

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having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Commission communication entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’ (ECO/306),

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having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Commission communication entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’,

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having regard to its resolution of 23 June 2011 on Objective 3: future agenda for cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation (2),

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having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Development and the opinion of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A7-0222/2012),

A.

whereas the Atlantic area has a number of defining characteristics that require political answers at European level:

B.

whereas the situation has become worse as a result of the European crisis and many regions in the Atlantic area have suffered setbacks in their levels of development;

C.

whereas the Atlantic area is composed of a rather disparate collection of regions, many of which have still not reached the EU’s average income level and thus remain under the convergence objective for the purposes of European cohesion policy;

D.

whereas a macroregional strategy is essential in order to revitalise the Atlantic area by offering a common approach, for the purposes of:

E.

whereas the strategy should cover all the EU’s Atlantic regions, including the coastal regions of the English Channel and the Irish Sea, the outermost regions and the overseas countries and territories, and should take into account the interactions between Atlantic regions and North Sea regions;

F.

whereas we must secure environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development for the above regions;

1.

Hopes that the strategy will adopt a broad approach by setting out an agreed strategic vision for the future development of the Atlantic area, incorporating the territorial dimension, developing linkages between land and sea, and establishing a framework to better manage maritime and terrestrial planning policy in the Atlantic regions;

2.

Requests that the valuable lessons learned from the development of existing macroregional and other transnational strategies be taken fully on board in the Atlantic Strategy process, particularly on issues such as governance, policy development, communication and ownership, targets and evaluation;

3.

Believes that cohesion policy is a key instrument for tackling the challenges of the EU’s territorial policy and boosting endogenous development in the regions within the macroregion;

4.

Calls for the Strategy and its Action Plan to place a strong emphasis on jobs, growth and investment in regions, both maritime and inland;

5.

Calls for the creation of a permanent maritime spatial planning structure for the Atlantic area, comprising the regions and Member States concerned and the Commission, for the purposes of coordinating the strategy laid down and monitoring the implementation of the action plan from an intersectoral and transnational perspective;

6.

Considers an EU-wide integrated marine and maritime data management system to be of crucial importance with a view to taking advantage of maritime opportunities; calls on the Commission to continue its efforts to improve data management and accessibility;

7.

Considers that vigorous action is needed to safeguard the ecological balance and biodiversity of the Atlantic and reduce the carbon footprint in that area;

8.

Believes that sea-fishing, in particular small-scale and coastal fisheries, and aquaculture activities must play a key role in maritime planning policies, since they could make a decisive contribution to more vigorous economic growth and to wealth and job creation; takes the view that the regionalisation of the common fisheries policy should result in the introduction of an ecosystem-based management approach tailored to the needs of the Atlantic area, and in this connection asks the Commission to engage in prior consultations with the Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) in the context of the implementation of the common fisheries policy and the management plans;

9.

Calls for local, regional and crossborder partnerships to be set up with the aim of improving risk prevention and risk management capacities in the Atlantic in connection with maritime and land-based accidents, natural disasters and criminal activities (piracy, trafficking, illegal fishing, etc), and for sufficient and flexible mechanisms to be created to cover replacement and compensation for damage incurred; calls for a European coastguard service to be established;

10.

Calls for the improvement of the existing vessel monitoring systems, immediate application of EMSA’s strengthened powers, and the conclusion of data-sharing agreements between the competent authorities, in order to permit the identification and tracking of ships and fight threats such as crossborder crime, smuggling, illegal fishing and trafficking; stresses the importance of promoting the deployment and implementation of the European satellite navigation programmes (EGNOS and Galileo), in order to cover search and rescue support systems in the Atlantic; recalls the need to ensure long-term financing by the Union of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme, which contributes in particular to the prevention and management of maritime risks;

11.

Considers that the territorial dimension of the strategy is essential for purposes of making the Atlantic regions more accessible, and that it should focus on linking the Atlantic area with the European mainland, connecting the transport, energy and information networks, developing the rural and urban parts of the hinterland, and improving the land-sea links, including the outermost and island regions;

12.

Believes that the motorways of the sea help to provide access to the Atlantic regions, increase trade, stimulate port-based economic activity, encourage tourism and reduce CO2 emissions; considers it important that CO2 emission reduction measures should allow for Atlantic seaborne trade and the specific features of the outermost regions, where the carriage of goods and passengers by sea is vital for territorial, social, and economic cohesion in the true sense; calls for the motorways of the sea to be eligible for support under the Connecting Europe Facility;

13.

Encourages, for the sake of the sustainability of the motorways of the sea and in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy, the establishment of specific recommendations concerning vessels, with a view to promoting the inclusion of propulsion systems with low carbon emissions and the use of building criteria that are demanding in terms of efficiency, comfort, capacity, safety, location and telecommunications; stresses that such recommendations should focus on increasing the efficiency of this mode of transport, ensuring environmental preservation and facilitating this mode’s integration with other transport networks and modes;

14.

Considers it essential to improve the connections between the Atlantic regions and the rest of Europe through investment in multimodal transport infrastructures;

15.

Stresses the need for effective crossborder coordination and cooperation for the construction and use of road and rail infrastructures, including high-speed train lines, airports, seaports, inland ports, hinterland terminals and logistics, with a view to developing a more sustainable and multimodal transport system;

16.

Emphasises the economic and territorial importance of ports and believes that the existence of rail and inland waterway connections with their hinterlands is crucial for their ability to compete;

17.

Regrets that there is no corridor covering the whole of the Atlantic area in the Commission proposals on the core network of trans-European transport networks, and that too few Atlantic ports are proposed in this core network; considers it necessary to include other Atlantic ports as hub ports and intends to put forward proposals to this effect;

18.

Recalls the benefits of creating a Single European Sky, with a view to strengthening territorial cohesion via increased traffic between regional airports within the Union, and therefore calls on the Commission to ensure the use of functional airspace blocks within the deadlines set for achieving this objective;

19.

Hopes that the strategy will support the competitiveness of the dynamic economic sectors in the Atlantic regions, through an appropriate industrial policy; believes, in this regard, that private-sector investment should be supported by the public authorities in the areas of research and development, innovation, cluster development and SME support;

20.

Calls for particular attention to be paid to regions affected by the restructuring of enterprises and sectors, and by the closure or relocation of enterprises, with the aim of promoting their reindustrialisation by generating synergies between port activity, logistics and the development of ancillary industries offering greater added value; also calls for a mechanism to be created for exchanging successful industrial practices among Atlantic Arc regions;

21.

Considers that the strategy should encourage marine and maritime research and give businesses easier access to the findings of that research, with a view to improving scientific knowledge of the marine environment, encouraging innovation in maritime industries and allowing the sustainable exploitation of marine resources;

22.

Is of the opinion that the strategy should contain an ambitious social dimension in order to promote training and access for young people to maritime professions, by consolidating employment structures currently linked to the sea and their role in enabling the population to remain in coastal areas, and also by creating new specialisations that can contribute to the sustainable development of fishing areas and help improve the quality of life in these areas;

23.

Stresses that renewable marine energies comprise an industrial sector for the future that can combat climate change and EU energy dependence, achieve greater energy sustainability within the Atlantic regions, and meet the Europe 2020 targets; notes that the Atlantic area is particularly suitable for the promotion of such energies, and considers that public support is necessary to accompany private investment in the technologies concerned, especially offshore wind energy and wave and tidal energy;

24.

Underlines the strategic importance of maritime transport along the Atlantic seaboard and the links between the outermost regions and mainland areas; calls on the Commission to propose measures to simplify the administrative formalities in ports, without losing the ability to control and verify the correctness of operations and cargoes;

25.

Emphasises the economic importance of the maritime industries in the Atlantic regions, especially the shipbuilding industry, which is experiencing an extremely difficult situation in some Atlantic of those regions, and for which the Commission needs to facilitate solutions; calls on the Commission to relaunch the LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative in order to strengthen this sector’s ability to compete on the global market;

26.

Emphasises the importance of sea-fishing activities and aquaculture in the Atlantic regions, and is in favour of public support for the renewal and modernisation of fishing vessels and of special differentiation as regards the characteristics and potential of artisanal coastal fishing and shellfishing;

27.

Emphasises the importance of promoting socially, economically and environmentally sustainable forms of tourism that can constitute a significant source of added value for the Atlantic regions while protecting their ecosystem and biodiversity; points out that support for nautical tourism is a way to develop sports activities and boost cruise tourism;

28.

Underlines that the Atlantic seabed is home to a wealth of resources, and believes that the strategy should facilitate their sustainable exploration and exploitation;

29.

Calls for an external dimension to the strategy, with a view to advancing certain objectives and attracting international investment so as to capitalise on the opportunities that exist, and suggests that the marketing of the Atlantic area as a place to invest in, visit and do business must be a key element of the Action Plan;

30.

Calls on the Commission to establish the Atlantic macroregion and propose an action plan to implement the strategy in the period 2014-2020;

31.

Calls for a multi-level governance approach to be applied to the elaboration, implementation, evaluation and review of the action plan, in which regional and local public authorities, Atlantic Member States, private sector stakeholders and civil society organisations are closely involved;

32.

Stresses that the action plan should use existing European funding, rather than creating any new budgetary instruments;

33.

Calls for the action plan to be linked to the EU’s regional policy, the Integrated Maritime Policy, research and innovation policy (Horizon 2020), and the Connecting Europe Facility; is of the opinion that it is essential to create synergies with other European policies in the areas of research and innovation, transport, the environment, energy, technology, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, and international cooperation;

34.

Draws attention to the important role which the European Investment Bank, project bonds and public-private partnerships could play in providing funding for the investment required under the strategy;

35.

Insists that the future Atlantic strategy must be based on the thematic pillars of the Europe 2020 Strategy, since this will make it possible to link the thematic contents with sectoral policies in an integrated way; takes the view, in this context, that the objectives and thematic concentration proposed for the five funds included in the common strategic framework for European cohesion policy for the next programming period should form the framework of the action plan; underlines the objectives of ‘strengthening research, technological development and innovation’, ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’, ‘supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy’ and ‘promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures’;

36.

Calls for the partnership contracts and operational programmes to be bindingly geared to the corresponding priorities of the macroregional strategies in which they participate, in order to ensure that measures under the operational programmes and the priorities of macroregional strategies are closely aligned, resulting in the Structural Funds being used much more efficiently and added value being created at regional level; points out that this binding gearing must cover not only operational programmes falling under the cohesion policy’s territorial cooperation objective (INTERREG), but also the operational programmes for each region in the Atlantic area;

37.

Supports the recognition and incorporation of preexisting territorial cooperation strategies, projects and experiences, which may offer lines of action and political and operational priorities to the action plan; calls for due account to be taken of the action plan during the design and implementation of future territorial cooperation programmes concerned by the strategy; believes, in addition, that technical support should be provided under the transnational strand of the European territorial cooperation objective for implementation of the action plan, inter alia so as to facilitate the pooling of best practice and networking;

38.

Considers multiregional, multi-fund operational programmes and integrated territorial investment (ITI) to be particularly useful means of facilitating implementation of the action plan;

39.

Proposes that the annual implementation reports for the relevant programmes should include an assessment of how programmes are contributing to the objectives of the Atlantic Strategy and the implementation of the Action Plan;

40.

Points out that the outermost regions could serve as natural laboratories for research and development activities related to renewable energies and the maritime economy; draws attention to the importance of the tourism sector for these regions and to the possibility of setting up logistics platforms to facilitate the transport of goods between Europe and the other global economies;

41.

Invites the national, regional and local authorities to look for synergies between their policies and the priorities of the action plan;

42.

Points out that the involvement in the strategy of European funds under direct and shared management will make it necessary to devise a suitable management and control system, and therefore calls for the establishment of a management platform for the action plan, offering an information and communication module for beneficiaries and facilitating coordination among the various authorities responsible for managing the funds;

43.

Recommends that the Atlantic Strategy must firstly agree on a Strategic Vision for the Atlantic Area, which will provide the reference for the Action Plan 2014-2020; further proposes that this Action Plan should:

44.

Points out that an Atlantic Forum has been set up for 2012 and 2013 under a preparatory action proposed by Parliament, in order to involve all stakeholders in the drafting of the action plan; stresses that, as the instigator of the forum, Parliament has a leading role therein;

45.

Proposes that the Action Plan be adopted by the Atlantic Forum, and calls on the forthcoming Irish presidency to prioritise European Council endorsement of the Action Plan during its term of office, with a focus on delivery, a credible process for monitoring and ongoing evaluation, and scheduling a mid-term review;

46.

Calls on the Commission to study the possibility of also drawing up similar macroregional strategies in other regions where such a measure would lead to lasting and sustainable economic growth;

47.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee.