Activites

• 2003/10/30 Final act published in Official Journal
• 2002/06/13 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0319/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Renate SOMMER (EPP-ED, German) emphasising the specific problems of border regions post-enlargement. The exceptional burdens imposed on Objective 1 areas lying directly on a border will need to be taken properly into account. The strategy proposed by the Commission is a first step towards tackling the specific problems of the border regions by means of the targeted package of measures. With regard to structural policy instruments, Parliament called for the drawing-up of a catalogue of indicators - still to be defined- to counteract any social and economic problems. Specific assistance to border regions should be available in addition to the existing assistance options. SMU's should receive more INTERREG funding. Parliament does not consider the endowment of EUR 195 million to be adequate given the scale of the task. Given the figure, the percentage for TEN is too high, since the border region will only be able to benefit indirectly from the extension of the TEN routes. It welcomes the agreement between the two arms of the budgetary authority to increase the endowment by EUR 65 million. This should be assigned to solving the specific problems faced by SMUs in the border regions.�

• 2002/06/12 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2002/03/21 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0096/2002
• 2001/11/28 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #2388
• 2001/11/21 Council Meeting
  • 2388
• 2001/07/25 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(2001)0437 summary

    PURPOSE : to present an Action Plan for regions bordering candidate countries. CONTENT : the Community Action for Border Regions presented in this Communication covers a wide range of measures which can be applied to meet the specific needs of the different sectors concerned. The Commission proposes better co-ordination of existing instruments in border regions, use of the flexibility margin of applicable state aid rules and additional investment in specific areas, in particular to transport and environmental infrastructure. A further important task is to develop an effective information and communication strategy that can help to maximise the benefits of enlargement in the border regions. The proposed new measures should help to enhance cross-border co-operation and the development of new economic regions, creating new opportunities for growth and employment on both sides of the border. To be more specific, the Commission's main recommendations include: - higher investment in the transport infrastructure in the framework of the trans-European network (TEN) through an increase in the maximum level of Community support for TEN-projects to 20% and with special financial assistance for TEN projects in border regions amounting to EUR 150 million in the period 2003-2006; - co-operation activites for SMEs funded through a specific EUR 15 million pilot project initiated by the European Parliament for the period 2001-2002; - Community support of up to EUR 20 million for networking measures between border regions and candidate countries in the framework of INTERREG; - better co-ordination of the INTERREG III A and Phare Cross-Border Co-operation programme; - facilitate the co-financing for transnational (INTERREG B) or interregional (INTERREG C) co-operation projects in well-founded cases; - a special programme of the EIB to support environmental and transport infrastructure projects; - a EUR 10 million boost in funding for the European YOUTH programme; - making full use of the flexibility provided by existing state aid rules on the geographical eligibility and intensity of state aid for regional purposes. With regard to the budgetary aspects, the Commission proposes to dedicate an additional EUR 195 million for border regions with applicant countries in the period 2001-2006. Lastly, with to the principle of subsidiarity, this Action needs to be complemented by, and co-ordinated with, appropriate measures at the national, regional and local levels.�

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/', 'title': 'Enlargement'}],

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2001)0437
• Debate in Council: 2388
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A5-0096/2002
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0319/2002

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)