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NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2010- CPMR WELCOMES EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS INTERGROUPS ! - WWW.CRPM.ORG |
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CORINNE LEPAGE, EP ADVOCATE FOR MARITIME AFFAIRS 
Corinne Lepage, ALDE MEP (Alliance of Democrats and Liberals for Europe), has been campaigning for an Intergroup on Seas and Coastal Affairs within the European Parliament. The intergroup finally met for the first time on 11 February 2010 and has agreed in the coming years to look at a number of issues including marine biodiversity, the creation of a European coastguard, the development of ocean power, coastal conservation, the processing of marine waste, maritime transport and climate change. Former Environment Minister, Mrs Lepage is a barrister and expert in environmental law. She was elected to the European Parliament in June 2009, where she is a member of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and substitute member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Enrico Mayrhofer: Mrs Lepage, what are the main aims of this intergroup? Corinne Lepage: The intergroup has two main objectives. Firstly
to make sure Parliament has more influence before the Council
and Commission on subjects that are already up for discussion
by improving coordination between MEPs... ISLANDS AT THE CORE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WORKS 
Alyn Smith has been very active in promoting in the European Parliament the “Intergroup Mountain, Island and Sparsely Populated Regions” or “Intergroup Article 174” as it is also referred to because of the new article of the Lisbon Treaty on territorial cohesion. This Intergroup promotes and defends the interests of these territories and it is composed by Members from different countries and political families. Alyn Smith is Scottish and has joined the Group of the Greens-European Free Alliance. In Parliament, he is a full member of the Agriculture Committee and an alternate member of the Education and Culture Committee in addition to the Constitutional Affairs Committee. Enrico Mayrhofer: What are the goals of this Intergroup? Alyn Smith: The aim of the intergroup is to promote and defend the interests of Europe’s island, mountainous and sparsely populated areas at European level, to ensure that the EU institutions are made more aware of the issues and challenges facing such areas and that the provisions of Article 174 of the Lisbon Treaty which state that “special attention” is to be paid to these areas are fully taken on board in future EU legislation. EM: How do you plan to persuade the EU Commission in inserting islands, mountains and sparsely populated areas in the future structural funds post 2013 programming?...
COOPERATION AND NEIGHBOURHOOD INSTRUMENTS TO MEET THE CHALLENGES AHEAD 
European territorial cooperation is 20 years old. The Community Initiative Programme (CIP) Interreg which was set up in the context of the 1989 reform of the Structural Funds, was designed above all to foster the emergence of a European conscience as close as possible to its citizens through exchanges of experiences and networking between Regions. Over the years, with the development of ever more and closer links and increasingly sophisticated projects between stakeholders working in Europe’s territories, cooperation instruments too have evolved and gained credibility. The Interreg CIP was renewed twice in 1994 and 2000, and in 2007 it became an objective in its own right under EU cohesion policy*. In 20 years, a complex and professionalised world of European territorial cooperation has come into existence. While attracting the interest of thousands of project developers
can be seen as a sign that the initial wager has paid off, deep-seated
dynamics are currently at work that are changing the face of the
challenges and giving new dimensions to territorial cooperation.
The initial objective has not been lost. With the successive enlargements
of the EU, it is now within the most recent Member States that
we need to develop a European conscience and instil a custom of
cooperation. However, while the Union was expanding, the world
has opened up and Europe with it. This offers territories cooperation
opportunities that lie further beyond the European horizon. Special
ties that already existed with the EU’s neighbouring territories
are now tending to be strengthened, while an increasing number
of cooperation activities are emerging between European regions
and territories in other continents. These types of cooperation
are wide-ranging and may be economic, cultural or solidarity-based.
Finally, in light of the complexity and interdependence of the
challenges (economic, environmental...
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INTERVIEWS
