The European Parliament adopted by 553 votes to 63,
with 49 abstentions, a resolution on cohesion policy in mountainous
regions of the EU.
Members recalled that mountainous regions in the EU
are rarely in the focus of Cohesion Policy. Yet, these
regions represent a significant amount of EU territory
(around 30 %), and the entirety of the EU depends on their
ecosystem services. These regions are structurally disadvantaged,
owing to their extreme conditions and remoteness, to the extent
that many mountainous regions face depopulation and ageing
populations.
Parliament made a number of recommendations as to how
the mountains of the EU can contribute to its targets, such as
Europe 2020.
Coordinated approach and general
considerations: given that there is
no explicit definition of mountainous regions in EU regional
policy, Parliament called on the Commission to start the process of
creating a working definition for functional mountainous
regions in the context of Cohesion Policy, complementing the
definition of mountainous areas as used in the context of the
European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, with the aim of
improving coordination of the policies and measures
concerned.
This definition must be wide and inclusive, taking
into account different factors such as altitude, accessibility and
slope. It should cover volcanic regions in islands and outermost
regions, as well as areas that, while not mountainous, are largely
integrated with mountain areas. Members welcomed the current
initiatives for the Carpathian Mountains in the EU Strategy for the
Danube Region and the progress made on the EU macro-regional
strategy for the Alps.
Parliament considered that EU policies should have a
specific approach to mountainous regions, as they have clear
structural disadvantages.
The Commission is invited to:
- present a communication containing an ‘agenda
for EU mountainous regions’ and establish a specific,
in‑depth programme to protect those European glaciers
which are predicted to disappear by 2050;
- present a White Paper on the development of
mountainous regions, based on best practices and involving local,
regional and national authorities;
- encourage the use of financial instruments in
mountainous regions in order to reach concrete results;
- regularly assess the condition of mountainous
regions in the EU, and analyse data,
such as the results of the implementation of Cohesion Policy
operational programmes and indicators, in order to focus EU funding
and policy implementation in a correct way;
- propose a European Year of Islands and
Mountains.
The managing authorities are called upon to consider
increasing allocations of ESI Funds at national level to
support undeveloped mountainous areas, using a multi-sectoral
policy approach, where possible.
Parliament also called for synergies to be
increased by means of the coordination of EU policies,
strategies and programmes that have an indirect effect upon
mountainous regions, such as Horizon 2020, COSME, LIFE, Natura
2000, the EU Broadband Strategy, the EU Climate Adaptation
Strategy, the EU Environment Action Programme, the Connecting
Europe Facility, European Territorial Cooperation, ESI Funds and
the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), as well as
macro-regional strategy initiatives.
The European Territorial Cooperation (ETC)
instrument offers an excellent opportunity to
share best practices and knowledge among mountainous regions, which
in many cases are located on national borders. Members called for a
specific mountain dimension in the future ETC.
Jobs and economic growth in mountainous
regions: in this regard, Parliament
highlighted the need to:
- pay specific attention to the development of
SMEs in mountainous regions, particularly areas affected by
natural and climate-aggravated disasters, urges the Member States
accordingly to give priority to investment in infrastructure and
services in mountain areas;
- improve the marketing of agricultural products
and including them within the general tourism products of a given
geographical area; moreover, as mountain areas have strong
potential for producing high-quality food products and to start the
debate about introducing special labelling for mountain food
products at EU level;
- emphasise, within the strategy, the economic
dimension of forestry taking into account the economic and
social role of forestry in mountain areas;
- put in place additional incentives to preserve
small processing enterprises and small and medium-sized mountain
farms in mountainous areas;
- use the ESI Funds for economic sectors that do not
pollute and are future-oriented, such as sustainable tourism,
cultural heritage, sustainable forestry, high-speed internet
development, crafts, and renewable energy.
Sustainable growth, environment,
accessibility: the resolution lays
down the points that should be included in the agenda and the
sector-specific policy. Members made the following
recommendations:
- increase the qualifications of the workforce and
creating new jobs in the green economy should be part of the
investment priorities of the ESI Funds;
- attract young people into the agricultural sector by encouraging young
entrepreneurs to branch out in areas relating to cultural
heritage;
- the CAP should aim to compensate the natural
and economic disadvantages that farmers face but should also give
them the means to capitalise on their assets;
- ensure sustainable milk production in mountain
areas;
- present specific recommendations for overcoming the
shortage of skilled labour in the tourism industry,
specifically addressing the challenges of unattractive jobs and
insufficient remuneration;
- ensure the development and improvement of
healthcare facilities and services in mountainous regions,
inter alia through cross-border cooperation initiatives, including
the development of cross-border healthcare establishments, where
needed;
- encourage tailor‑made solutions adapted to local and regional needs to
access public services;
- support innovative solutions, including IT-based ones,
for access to basic quality education, as well as formal and
informal education and lifelong learning opportunities, in remote
mountainous areas;
- more effective implementation of the Youth
Guarantee as a good opportunity to stop the outflow of young
people from mountainous regions;
- focus on policies that encourage and facilitate the
use of renewables in mountainous regions and place climate
change at the heart of a future 'Agenda for EU Mountainous
Regions'.
- create incentives for more active development of
public-private partnerships in mountainous regions, in
transport, communication and energy infrastructure, as the
lack of economies of scale makes the provision of these services
commercially unattractive.
Lastly, Parliament considered that the Internet, and
more specifically, next-generation access technologies play a
crucial part in overcoming the challenges faced by mountainous
regions. It considered therefore that specific support from ESI
Funds is needed for the promotion of employment, social
inclusion and empowerment in the emerging digital
economy.