Mr HOWITT (PSE, UK) stressed that the Commission should adopt clear, concise and flexible guidelines on innovation and creativity. He also called for better communication and an exchange of information between the parties involved in regional cooperation. The rapporteur then listed a number of priorities that he thought should be adopted: promotion of sustainable development, in collaboration with local and regional partners, environmental issues and measures to combat the exclusion of disadvantaged groups, which would be based on citizenship participation. Commissioner WULF-MATHIES said that Article 10 provided for support to pilot projects and was keen to see the projects funded in this way leading to the creation of new jobs. In this connection she stressed the importance of direct contact with the regions when implementing the projects; technical assistance offices would help enhance the efficient running of the programmes. All the priorities mentioned by the rapporteur (ecological problems, partnership, citizen participation, etc.) could be found in the general objectives that had been adopted within the framework of Article 10. Finally, the criteria laid down by the Commission were to be more flexible when it came to pilot projects for urban areas.

The Committee of the Regions noted that the European Commission had already announced calls for tenders in September 1995 in respect of a number of project types under Article 10 of the ERDF, without waiting for the Committee to deliver its Opinion, and without Commission working documents being made available in all official languages of the European Union. The Committee was disappointed to note that the estimated available resources for the period 1995-1999 were significantly below the 1% maximum allowed by the Regulations. The Commission should move towards an integrated approach to the funding available for innovative projects from the ERDF, the ESF and the EAGGF. There was great concern at the proposal by the Commission to fund, in general, fewer but larger projects under Article 10 in the second period, which was a result of the proposal to place a lower limit of ECU 1 million on many categories of projects. This lower limit was set too high and would result in the exclusion of smaller or less prosperous authorities. The Committee called on the Commission to ensure that local and regional authorities were responsible for the management and decision-making process for Article 10 projects. The Commission was also asked to take into account a number of suggestions contained in the Opinion relating to the application process, the balance of funding between types of initiatives and the dissemination of information arising from the projects, all of which were intended to ensure better use of resources for the support of projects for cooperation and development amongst regional and local authorities.