Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-06-14-Speech-4-023"
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"en.20010614.2.4-023"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, although the outermost regions were fully acknowledged in Article 299(2) of the Treaty of Amsterdam, we are still awaiting the first far-reaching measures. This is why I welcome today’s debate and the structural and agricultural packages proposed by the Commission, because they undeniably seek to take better account of the realities of the overseas territories. I would also like to congratulate the rapporteurs and particularly Mr Martínez Martínez and Mr Poignant on their excellent work.
Overall, the Commission’s proposals can be considered as a step in the right direction and they are a satisfactory response to local needs. First of all, on the structural measures, we can only welcome the alignment of intervention levels to 85% for all outermost regions. In practice, this means that we are giving the same opportunities to people who have to deal with basically identical constraints.
On the agricultural measures, since I am from Réunion, I welcome the measures to assist traditional farming and, in particular, transport aid for sugar cane, which our farmers have long been waiting for. I have a few comments, however, to make with regard to some of the points. First of all, I deplore the fact that the retroactivity of the measures has not been explicitly worded and I welcome the fact that many of Parliament’s amendments forcefully emphasise the importance of this point for all types of farming, as we must think of the thousands of farmers who are waiting for these measures.
Next, I am sorry that the Commission did not automatically retain Article 299(2) as a legal basis, which, in my view, runs absolutely counter to the spirit advocated by the Heads of State and Government. I therefore welcome the fact that this omission was partially restored by the Council, because by limiting the scope of this article, we are undermining the very concept of what outermost regions are.
Lastly, I would like to end with a wish. I would like the reforms that have been proposed here to lay solid foundations for an even more ambitious policy for our regions, so that equal opportunities and the acceptance of differences become a reality for all the citizens of the European Union."@en1
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