Parliament report on the implementation of Community Initiatives in Austria, Finland and Sweden
The European Parliament's Committee on Regional Policy has adopted a report on the Commission's Communication on the allocation of funds and the implementation of Community initiatives in Austria, Finland and Sweden. The Commission Communication in question sets out the allocation of funds, between the Community Initiatives, in the three new Member States. Community Initiatives are special measures, proposed at the initiative of the Commission and cofinanced from the Structural Funds, aimed at supporting actions which will help solve problems having a particular impact at European level. In allocating resources for the three new Member States, the Commission has endeavoured to take into account the specific characteristics of each country. The bulk of funds for the Community Initiatives is, as a result, to be distributed via the INTERREG and LEADER Initiatives. In Austria and Finland, these funds will account for more than half of the total sum available for each country, whilst in Sweden they will represent 48%. LEADER is designed to stimulate rural development. Eligible measures include, among other things, technical support for rural development and development of local agricultural, forestry and fishery products. INTERREG aims to promote the development of border regions through cooperation with adjacent border areas in neighbouring countries. The emphasis put on INTERREG in the case of the new Member States reflects the fact that they all have exceptionally long external borders with third countries. Eligible measures cover a wide range of activities such as cross-border cooperation for the development of SMEs, environmental protection, etc. However, INTERREG also provides funding for rural development, farm-based tourism and the improvement of agricultural productivity. The European Parliament's Committee on Regional Policy agrees with the Commission on the need to apply the relevant allocation criteria in a flexible way so that national peculiarities are sufficiently taken into consideration and approves the exceptional emphasis placed on the INTERREG II Initiative. In this context, the Committee believes that action funded by INTERREG II in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Baltic and Arctic areas should, as a priority, concentrate on pursuing cooperation on environmental matters, the development of entrepreneurial activity, improving infrastructure (particularly transport) and strengthening the economic power of the regions. The Committee, however, stresses the need for close coordination with the PHARE and TACIS programmes and stresses the urgent need for the reduction of disparities in standards of living between the Member States and the Central and East European countries (CEECs) and the CIS. It also underlines the importance of the EMPLOYMENT and ADAPT Initiatives for Finland where unemployment is particularly high and expresses its opinion that the role assigned by the Commission to the URBAN Initiative is inadequate. Following formal adoption in plenary, the Committee's Report will be forwarded to the Commission and Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
Countries
Austria, Finland, Sweden