The European Investment Bank (EIB) data shows that island regions are not managing to benefit from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), PL MEP Alfred Sant has said.
"Currently, both Malta and Cyprus feature at the bottom of the list for expected investments mobilised per million euros of GDP under EFSI, former he said when he addressed the Islands Commission Conference - "How can the post 2020 Cohesion Policy meet EU Islands challenges?" at the European Parliament.
"The main problem here, is that such funds are not structured with island economies in mind. They do not take into account that these economies often lack the needed good economic endowments, a large population, and proximity to other regions."
Dr Sant said EU Competition rules in the context of state aid in islands should be structured much more differently, much more clearly.
"We need to continue the pressure to downscale the way that competition policy gets applied to island and peripheral regions, in this case, also in the context of state aid in the form of Cohesion funding. Island by island, region by region, there should be a full and clear exemption from competition rules as they apply to state subsidy and support. There is no way by which such exemptions can affect in any manner, the operations of the European single market."
The Maltese MEP proposed the setting up of a suitable EU special fund for EU regions with "special" geographical conditions or "handicaps".
"The current tools that have been designed for the single market approach have tried to solve or adapt to higher developed regions themselves. These are tools that need to be adapted to the needs of island regions. We need to make these funding tools the most effective. From a horizontal view of European funding, it is very important that new funds (such as the Defence Fund), or new competition-based methods of funding, such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), do not undermine the strategic long-term perspective of Cohesion Policy."
"We should present the case of EU islands within a future Cohesion Policy with focused demands regarding the tools that we should put forward. We need to now prioritise on the long battle of insular regions to have geographical characteristics taken into account when calculating the development level of EU regions.We need to make the case for the insular and peripheral nature of regions to be taken into account as indicators additional to the per capita GDP in order to achieve socio-economic cohesion across all EU regions."
Sant argued that island and peripheral regions must also strongly advance the case for regional development.
"Shifting available funds towards a levered financial profile, on the grounds that this would mobilise greater volumes of money will be counterproductive for those at the periphery of Europe. Grants must continue as a centrepiece to compensate for the disadvantages that they need to overcome, especially in the context of an economic and monetary union."
The Conference was organised in preparation for the ongoing discussions on the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) post 2020 and the European Commission proposals expected this month. The Conference was attended by MEPs representing EU islands, representatives from different island regions and Corina CRETU, Commissioner for Regional Policy.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2HAy1FM
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