Translation of "Région touchée " (French → English) :

7. Believes that the statistical effect regions must maintain their status as areas within the scope of Article 87(3)(a) of the Treaty as already requested in its above-mentioned resolution on the third report on economic and social cohesion granting them the same treatment as applied to convergence objective regions by the general provisions for Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund; calls, therefore, for the maintenance of the relevant provisions in respect of the statistical effect regions until the end of the programming period, i.e. until 2013, without a review of their situation in 2009;

7. Believes that the statistical effect regions must maintain their status as Art. 87(3)(a) of the Treaty areas as already requested in its above-mentioned resolution on the Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion granting them the same treatment as applied to convergence objective regions by the general provisions for Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds; calls, however, for the maintenance of the relevant provisions in respect of the statistical effect regions until the end of the programming period, i.e. until 2013, without a review of their situation in 2009;

We also hope that both the Commission and the Presidency will provide compensation, which is acceptable both in terms of its fairness and of its gradual nature, for the regions and Member States likely to suffer significant financial losses as a result of the new allocation of resources for the enlarged Europe, as well as preferential treatment for regions affected by the statistical effect, regions affected by the natural effect — the outermost regions — and areas with special structural difficulties: mountain regions, border regions ., regions suffering depopulation or low population density and regions with accessibility problems, suc ...[+++]h as my region, Aragón.

57. Points out that regional policy cannot be seen in isolation from regional aid law and calls for proposals to be coherent and for excessive disparity in assistance between neighbouring regions to be avoided, since this can lead to glaring distortions of competition; highlights the particular situation of the outermost regions (Article 299(2) of the EC Treaty), which require differential treatment vis-à-vis the cohesion policy parameters; proposes a transitional mechanism to allow the regions affected by the statistical effect to continue to require adequate support from the EU, since no region should feel that it has suffered as a r ...[+++]esult of enlargement; points out, furthermore, that the interaction between regional policy and competition policy in the regions affected by the statistical effect must be acknowledged and must be included in the analysis of the effects which current and future rules on state aid have (or will have) on such regions, and also that regions in transition, especially those technically falling under objective 1 but also those covered by objective 2, should receive adequate support and be given preferential treatment in the application of State aid rules;

During the period 1994-1999, a total of 82 regions with 62 million inhabitants (17% of EU15 population) received Objective 2 assistance, aimed at helping areas affected by industrial decline, down from the 73 million living in the areas assisted in the previous period.

11. Recognises that the tendency towards nominal convergence at national level is not yet accompanied by real convergence at regional level in all sectors; points out that differences increasingly obtain between the regions and that the differences between the poorest and richest regions are still very pronounced; notes with concern that the rise in unemployment has affected the regions to widely differing degrees; stresses the disturbing fact that unemployment in the 25 regions most affected stands at an average of 23.7%, while in the 25 least affected it is only 4%; notes the existence of a correlation between unemployment and low ...[+++]income per capita levels, and that unemployment should no longer be considered linked to restructuring processes in the industrialised countries; calls for greater account to be taken of conditions in individual regions, including long distances, low population density and harsh climate, and, especially, the causes of unemployment; calls for the dimension of territorial cohesion in its national, interregional and crossborder aspects to be included in future in the triennial reports on economic and social cohesion;