Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-06-Speech-3-197"
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"en.20021106.14.3-197"2
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"Mr President, Madam Vice-President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, in this speech, I shall restrict myself to discussing the key political issue underpinning the future of cohesion policy. This, as I am sure you can work out, concerns the amount of funds to be allocated to this crucial pillar of the process of European integration during the period 2007 to 2013. This is a key political issue because Europe will only be viable if it is founded on a project of solidarity towards its most disadvantaged regions; the European Union will not succeed on the basis of excessive regional disparities.
By subscribing to the Franco-German agreement on the freezing of common agricultural policy spending until 2013 on the basis of spending in 2006, the last European Council, held in Brussels, makes the assumption that the same principle of freezing could also be applied to funds earmarked for cohesion policy. In other words, the same Union budget that has served a Europe of fifteen countries will also have to serve a Europe of twenty-seven. To this we can add the end of the illusion that the savings made from the CAP could be channelled into cohesion policy; not forgetting that strengthening the rural development of the CAP has been extremely difficult and the CAP, as we know, has a cohesion-based approach.
It could be said that a cohesion policy that is funded to an approximate value of 0.45% of Community GDP would already be a major achievement. At least scenarios of renationalisation, which have been brewing in some countries where cohesion policy is concerned, would be averted. Nevertheless, I should like to emphasise the lack of resources, which endangers the future existence of a balanced cohesion policy that on the one hand does not ignore the cohesion deficit that still exists in today’s European Union of fifteen and on the other, that is equal to the task of the greatest challenge ever set for the process of European integration. I would also emphasise, with regard to this matter and in conclusion, the contrast with the recent past, when financial resources for cohesion have been doubled where other major challenges have arisen."@en1
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