92000E2966

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2966/00

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) and Mariotto Segni (UEN) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Sicily and Sardinia after 2006

The Commission has forecast that at the end of the 2000-2006 Structural Fund programming period, Sicily and Sardinia will no longer come under Objective 1.

That forecast is based, among other things, on the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will most probably have joined the EU by then.

Given that the loss of Objective 1 status will be a severe economic blow to the two islands,

what action does the Commission feel it should take to maintain the cohesion of Objective 1 regions, with particular reference to peripheral and island regions?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-2955/00 and E-2966/00 given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(7 November 2000)

In January 2001 the Commission is to adopt the second Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, which will be submitted to Parliament under Article 159 (formerly Article 130b) of the EC Treaty.

The report will consider the position and development of the regions in the context of an enlarged Union, evaluate the impact of Community policies on cohesion and propose guidelines for cohesion policy beyond 2006.

The Commission wants this second report to be the catalyst for a major debate on the future of this policy. To this end it is organising in May 2001 a forum to which the Members of Parliament and all those actively involved in regional development in the current Member States and in the applicant countries are to be invited.