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2015/2279(INI) Cohesion policy in mountainous regions of the EU
Next event: Debate in plenary scheduled 2016/05/09 more...
RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Opinion AGRI DANTIN Michel (EPP)
Lead REGI IOTOVA Iliana (S&D) BOGOVIČ Franc (EPP), PORĘBA Tomasz Piotr (ECR), JAKOVČIĆ Ivan (ALDE), OMARJEE Younous (GUE/NGL), VANA Monika (Verts/ALE), ADINOLFI Isabella (EFD)
Lead committee dossier: REGI/8/04826
Legal Basis RoP 052

Activites

  • 2016/05/10 Vote in plenary scheduled
  • 2016/05/09 Debate in plenary scheduled
  • 2016/04/04 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • 2016/03/17 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • 2015/10/29 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading

Documents

  • Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0074/2016
AmendmentsDossier
305 2015/2279(INI)
2016/01/19 AGRI 143 amendments...
source: 575.229
2016/01/28 REGI 162 amendments...
source: 575.218

History

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

activities/2/docs/0/text
  • The Committee on Regional Development adopted the own-initiative report by Iliana IOTOVA (S&D, BG) on cohesion policy in mountainous regions of the EU.

    Mountainous regions in the EU are rarely in the focus of Cohesion Policy. Yet, mountainous regions represent a significant amount of EU territory (around 30 %), and the entirety of the EU depends on their ecosystem services.

    This report focuses on how the mountains of the EU can contribute to its targets, such as Europe 2020. It contains the following recommendations:

    Coordinated approach and general considerations: the report 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.

    The Commission is also invited to:

    • present a communication containing an ‘agenda for EU mountainous regions’ and subsequent to this, 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;

    Members 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, the report 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 report lays down the points that should be included in the agenda and the sector-specific policy:

    • 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;
    • ensure the development and improvement of healthcare facilities and services in mountainous regions;
    • 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'.

    Lastly, Members considered that the Internet, and more specifically, next-generation access technologies play a crucial part in overcoming the challenges faced by mountainous regions. They considered therefore that specific support from ESI Funds is needed for the promotion of employment, social inclusion and empowerment in the emerging digital economy.

activities/2/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2016-0074&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A8-0074/2016
activities/3/type
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Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
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Debate in plenary scheduled
activities/4
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2016-05-10T00:00:00
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EP
type
Vote in plenary scheduled
activities/2
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2016-04-04T00:00:00
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EP
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Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
activities/3/date
Old
2016-05-26T00:00:00
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2016-05-09T00:00:00
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
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Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
activities/1
date
2016-03-17T00:00:00
body
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Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 150
activities/1/date
Old
2016-04-27T00:00:00
New
2016-05-26T00:00:00
activities/1/date
Old
2016-04-11T00:00:00
New
2016-04-27T00:00:00
procedure/title
Old
Cohesion Policy in mountainous regions of the EU
New
Cohesion policy in mountainous regions of the EU
procedure/subject/1
Old
4.70.02 Cohesion policy, Cohesion Fund
New
4.70.02 Cohesion policy, Cohesion Fund (CF)
activities/0/committees/1/shadows/2/mepref
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4f1ad9fcb819f207b3000048
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53b2db6eb819f205b0000089
activities/0/committees/1/shadows/2/name
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NICOLAI Norica
New
JAKOVČIĆ Ivan
committees/1/shadows/2/mepref
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4f1ad9fcb819f207b3000048
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53b2db6eb819f205b0000089
committees/1/shadows/2/name
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NICOLAI Norica
New
JAKOVČIĆ Ivan
activities/0/committees/1/shadows/4
group
Verts/ALE
name
VANA Monika
committees/1/shadows/4
group
Verts/ALE
name
VANA Monika
activities/0/committees/1/shadows/3
group
GUE/NGL
name
OMARJEE Younous
committees/1/shadows/3
group
GUE/NGL
name
OMARJEE Younous
activities
  • date: 2015-10-29T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee: AGRI date: 2015-10-28T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: EPP name: DANTIN Michel body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: BOGOVIČ Franc group: ECR name: PORĘBA Tomasz Piotr group: ALDE name: NICOLAI Norica group: EFD name: ADINOLFI Isabella responsible: True committee: REGI date: 2015-07-14T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: S&D name: IOTOVA Iliana
  • date: 2016-04-11T00:00:00 body: EP type: Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
committees
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: AGRI date: 2015-10-28T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: EPP name: DANTIN Michel
  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: BOGOVIČ Franc group: ECR name: PORĘBA Tomasz Piotr group: ALDE name: NICOLAI Norica group: EFD name: ADINOLFI Isabella responsible: True committee: REGI date: 2015-07-14T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: S&D name: IOTOVA Iliana
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/regional_policy/index_en.htm title: Regional and Urban Policy commissioner: CREȚU Corina
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
REGI/8/04826
reference
2015/2279(INI)
title
Cohesion Policy in mountainous regions of the EU
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
stage_reached
Awaiting committee decision
subtype
Initiative
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject