EUROPEAN CONVENTION: MARITIME REGIONS OUTLINE EXPECTATIONS ON FUTURE OF EUROPE.

• Position: Brief Article

Regarding the future of policies with a significant territorial impact, and in particular the evolution of regional policy post enlargement, a majority of CPMR regions are calling for priority aid for the European Union's poorest regions and for the introduction of a new system of support for the competitiveness of other regions. "The solution is not the option currently retained by Germany's Federal Government", according to Claus-Dieter Quassowski, representative of the Federal Finance Ministry, who addressed the debate on the results of the survey. Mr Quassowski recalled his Government's preferred option: "renationalisation of regional policy whilst maintaining appropriate levels of aid for countries with the greatest development delay, accompanied by a reduction in the Community effort".However, the regions questioned in the context of the survey argue that Europe should be working towards establishing a better balance between its economic, social and political dimensions. The next step should, they argue, be the consolidation of internal cohesion through actions promoting territorial cohesion. The inclusion of territorial cohesion among the finalities of an enlarged Union, requiring the EU to make every effort to reduce differences in development levels between regions, would also respond to an acknowledged need for coherence and clarity in the next Treaty, according to the CPMR. The regions then consider the grounds upon which certain European states and institutions choose not to complement economic and social cohesion objectives by a goal of territorial cohesion, despite the fact that this would permit them to respond to calls from citizens for greater transparency and legibility and introduce a greater degree of coherence in the new Treaty. The CPMR argues that identifying this objective would also respond to the need to ensure that all EU sectoral policies contribute to reducing territorial disparities.Shared responsibilities.A majority of regions reject the notion of returning certain Union policies to the Member States, with the exception of four, which argue that complete or partial renationalisation in respect of regional and agricultural policy would respond better to the constitutional order of federal states, within which these are regional responsibilities. For the overwhelming majority, however, renationalisation in these sectors would undermine the Union's very "raison-d'?tre", which is to "guarantee internal solidarity...