Eurocommissaris Hahn: regionaal beleid is geen liefdadigheid (en)

The Informal Meeting of ministers and high-ranking representatives of EU regional policy stressed the need to simplify control and management of funds so as not to delay project development, especially in these times of crisis when European regional policy must contribute to prosperity and reduce the breach between different zones.

This meeting assembled in Zaragoza the highest authorities in regional policy and territorial cohesion in the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area and candidate countries for membership, called by the Spanish Secretary of State for the Treasury, Carlos Ocaña, with the participation of the new European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn i, from Austria.

In a press conference, Carlos Ocaña pointed out that management and control of funds must be simplified to avoid delaying development of projects, which sometimes take years to settle, but this does not mean that controls should be eliminated, as they are "essential to ensure that they are employed as agreed" but more efficiently.

The Spanish Secretary of State supported giving "more attention to the less prosperous regions", but gradually, avoiding certain regions going from receiving significant funding to not receiving any at all.

Commissioner Hahn stated that in the distribution of Structural Funds in upcoming announcements such challenges as depopulation, demographic development or unemployment of older people must be taken into account.

In Johannes Hahn's opinion, the 271 regions of Europe require solutions adapted to their needs, although always concentrating on what he called, "core points", which are growth, energy efficiency, sustainable energy and its generation, and improvement in education of the public, among others.

On this subject, he pointed out that regional policy is not a "charity policy", but that it must pay more attention to the regions most in need and have more economic difficulties and also to rural development.

Nevertheless, the Commissioner considered that attention must also be given in the future to large cities, which "cannot be left on the sidelines" keeping in mind that 80% of the population lives and works in them.