REPORT on the EU Cohesion Policy Strategy for the Atlantic Area

11.7.2012 - (2011/2310(INI))

Committee on Regional Development
Rapporteur: Alain Cadec

Procedure : 2011/2310(INI)

Document stages in plenary

Document selected :

A7-0222/2012

Texts tabled :

A7-0222/2012

Debates :

Votes :

PV 13/09/2012 - 11.5
CRE 13/09/2012 - 11.5
Explanations of votes

Texts adopted :

P7_TA(2012)0341

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
OPINION of the Committee on Transport and Tourism
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the EU Cohesion Policy Strategy for the Atlantic Area

(2011/2310(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’ (COM(2011)0782),

– having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on 14 June 2010 concerning the European Union strategy for the Atlantic area,

– having regard to the European Union Strategies for the Baltic Sea Region and the Danube Region,

– having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2011 on the European Strategy for the Atlantic Region[1],

– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Commission communication entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’ (ECO/306),

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Commission communication entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’,

– having regard to its resolution of 23 June 2011 on Objective 3: future agenda for cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation[2],

– having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Development and the opinion of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A7-0222/2012),

A. whereas the Atlantic area has a number of defining characteristics that require political answers at European level:

- it is a dynamic maritime area;

- it is an area with a fragile marine environment;

- it is an area that forms the western approach to the EU;

- it is an outlying area within the EU;

B. whereas the situation has become worse as a result of the European crisis and many regions in the Atlantic area have suffered setbacks in their levels of development;

C. whereas the Atlantic area is composed of a rather disparate collection of regions, many of which have still not reached the EU’s average income level and thus remain under the convergence objective for the purposes of European cohesion policy;

D. whereas a macroregional strategy is essential in order to revitalise the Atlantic area by offering a common approach, for the purposes of:

- tackling the common challenges and issues facing the Atlantic countries and regions;

- promoting synergies among the various instruments and levels of action involved in spatial planning policies;

- involving stakeholders (the private sector, regional and local public authorities, civil society organisations) in designing and implementing spatial planning policies;

E. whereas the strategy should cover all the EU’s Atlantic regions, including the coastal regions of the English Channel and the Irish Sea, the outermost regions and the overseas countries and territories, and should take into account the interactions between Atlantic regions and North Sea regions;

F. whereas we must secure environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development for the above regions;

A spatial planning policy for the Atlantic

1. Hopes that the strategy will adopt a broad approach by setting out an agreed strategic vision for the future development of the Atlantic area, incorporating the territorial dimension, developing linkages between land and sea, and establishing a framework to better manage maritime and terrestrial planning policy in the Atlantic regions;

2. Requests that the valuable lessons learned from the development of existing macroregional and other transnational strategies be taken fully on board in the Atlantic Strategy process, particularly on issues such as governance, policy development, communication and ownership, targets and evaluation;

3. Believes that cohesion policy is a key instrument for tackling the challenges of the EU’s territorial policy and boosting endogenous development in the regions within the macroregion;

4. Calls for the Strategy and its Action Plan to place a strong emphasis on jobs, growth and investment in regions, both maritime and inland;

5. Calls for the creation of a permanent maritime spatial planning structure for the Atlantic area, comprising the regions and Member States concerned and the Commission, for the purposes of coordinating the strategy laid down and monitoring the implementation of the action plan from an intersectoral and transnational perspective;

6. Considers an EU-wide integrated marine and maritime data management system to be of crucial importance with a view to taking advantage of maritime opportunities; calls on the Commission to continue its efforts to improve data management and accessibility;

7. Considers that vigorous action is needed to safeguard the ecological balance and biodiversity of the Atlantic and reduce the carbon footprint in that area;

8. Believes that sea-fishing, in particular small-scale and coastal fisheries, and aquaculture activities must play a key role in maritime planning policies, since they could make a decisive contribution to more vigorous economic growth and to wealth and job creation; takes the view that the regionalisation of the common fisheries policy should result in the introduction of an ecosystem-based management approach tailored to the needs of the Atlantic area, and in this connection asks the Commission to engage in prior consultations with the Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) in the context of the implementation of the common fisheries policy and the management plans;

9. Calls for local, regional and crossborder partnerships to be set up with the aim of improving risk prevention and risk management capacities in the Atlantic in connection with maritime and land-based accidents, natural disasters and criminal activities (piracy, trafficking, illegal fishing, etc), and for sufficient and flexible mechanisms to be created to cover replacement and compensation for damage incurred; calls for a European coastguard service to be established;

10. Calls for the improvement of the existing vessel monitoring systems, immediate application of EMSA’s strengthened powers, and the conclusion of data-sharing agreements between the competent authorities, in order to permit the identification and tracking of ships and fight threats such as crossborder crime, smuggling, illegal fishing and trafficking; stresses the importance of promoting the deployment and implementation of the European satellite navigation programmes (EGNOS and Galileo), in order to cover search and rescue support systems in the Atlantic; recalls the need to ensure long-term financing by the Union of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme, which contributes in particular to the prevention and management of maritime risks;

11. Considers that the territorial dimension of the strategy is essential for purposes of making the Atlantic regions more accessible, and that it should focus on linking the Atlantic area with the European mainland, connecting the transport, energy and information networks, developing the rural and urban parts of the hinterland, and improving the land-sea links, including the outermost and island regions;

12. Believes that the motorways of the sea help to provide access to the Atlantic regions, increase trade, stimulate port-based economic activity, encourage tourism and reduce CO₂ emissions; considers it important that CO₂ emission reduction measures should allow for Atlantic seaborne trade and the specific features of the outermost regions, where the carriage of goods and passengers by sea is vital for territorial, social, and economic cohesion in the true sense; calls for the motorways of the sea to be eligible for support under the Connecting Europe Facility;

13. Encourages, for the sake of the sustainability of the motorways of the sea and in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy, the establishment of specific recommendations concerning vessels, with a view to promoting the inclusion of propulsion systems with low carbon emissions and the use of building criteria that are demanding in terms of efficiency, comfort, capacity, safety, location and telecommunications; stresses that such recommendations should focus on increasing the efficiency of this mode of transport, ensuring environmental preservation and facilitating this mode’s integration with other transport networks and modes;

14. Considers it essential to improve the connections between the Atlantic regions and the rest of Europe through investment in multimodal transport infrastructures;

15. Stresses the need for effective crossborder coordination and cooperation for the construction and use of road and rail infrastructures, including high-speed train lines, airports, seaports, inland ports, hinterland terminals and logistics, with a view to developing a more sustainable and multimodal transport system;

16. Emphasises the economic and territorial importance of ports and believes that the existence of rail and inland waterway connections with their hinterlands is crucial for their ability to compete;

17. Regrets that there is no corridor covering the whole of the Atlantic area in the Commission proposals on the core network of trans-European transport networks, and that too few Atlantic ports are proposed in this core network; considers it necessary to include other Atlantic ports as hub ports and intends to put forward proposals to this effect;

18. Recalls the benefits of creating a Single European Sky, with a view to strengthening territorial cohesion via increased traffic between regional airports within the Union, and therefore calls on the Commission to ensure the use of functional airspace blocks within the deadlines set for achieving this objective;

An industrial policy for the Atlantic

19. Hopes that the strategy will support the competitiveness of the dynamic economic sectors in the Atlantic regions, through an appropriate industrial policy; believes, in this regard, that private-sector investment should be supported by the public authorities in the areas of research and development, innovation, cluster development and SME support;

20. Calls for particular attention to be paid to regions affected by the restructuring of enterprises and sectors, and by the closure or relocation of enterprises, with the aim of promoting their reindustrialisation by generating synergies between port activity, logistics and the development of ancillary industries offering greater added value; also calls for a mechanism to be created for exchanging successful industrial practices among Atlantic Arc regions;

21. Considers that the strategy should encourage marine and maritime research and give businesses easier access to the findings of that research, with a view to improving scientific knowledge of the marine environment, encouraging innovation in maritime industries and allowing the sustainable exploitation of marine resources;

22. Is of the opinion that the strategy should contain an ambitious social dimension in order to promote training and access for young people to maritime professions, by consolidating employment structures currently linked to the sea and their role in enabling the population to remain in coastal areas, and also by creating new specialisations that can contribute to the sustainable development of fishing areas and help improve the quality of life in these areas;

23. Stresses that renewable marine energies comprise an industrial sector for the future that can combat climate change and EU energy dependence, achieve greater energy sustainability within the Atlantic regions, and meet the Europe 2020 targets; notes that the Atlantic area is particularly suitable for the promotion of such energies, and considers that public support is necessary to accompany private investment in the technologies concerned, especially offshore wind energy and wave and tidal energy;

24. Underlines the strategic importance of maritime transport along the Atlantic seaboard and the links between the outermost regions and mainland areas; calls on the Commission to propose measures to simplify the administrative formalities in ports, without losing the ability to control and verify the correctness of operations and cargoes;

25. Emphasises the economic importance of the maritime industries in the Atlantic regions, especially the shipbuilding industry, which is experiencing an extremely difficult situation in some Atlantic of those regions, and for which the Commission needs to facilitate solutions; calls on the Commission to relaunch the LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative in order to strengthen this sector’s ability to compete on the global market;

26. Emphasises the importance of sea-fishing activities and aquaculture in the Atlantic regions, and is in favour of public support for the updating and modernisation of fishing vessels and of special differentiation as regards the characteristics and potential of artisanal coastal fishing and shellfishing;

27. Emphasises the importance of promoting socially, economically and environmentally sustainable forms of tourism that can constitute a significant source of added value for the Atlantic regions while protecting their ecosystem and biodiversity; points out that support for nautical tourism is a way to develop sports activities and boost cruise tourism;

28. Underlines that the Atlantic seabed is home to a wealth of resources, and believes that the strategy should facilitate their sustainable exploration and exploitation;

An action plan for 2014-2020

29. Calls for an external dimension to the strategy, with a view to advancing certain objectives and attracting international investment so as to capitalise on the opportunities that exist, and suggests that the marketing of the Atlantic area as a place to invest in, visit and do business must be a key element of the Action Plan;

30. Calls on the Commission to establish the Atlantic macroregion and propose an action plan to implement the strategy in the period 2014-2020;

31. Calls for a multi-level governance approach to be applied to the elaboration, implementation, evaluation and review of the action plan, in which regional and local public authorities, Atlantic Member States, private sector stakeholders and civil society organisations are closely involved;

32. Stresses that the action plan should use existing European funding, rather than creating any new budgetary instruments;

33. Calls for the action plan to be linked to the EU’s regional policy, the Integrated Maritime Policy, research and innovation policy (Horizon 2020), and the Connecting Europe Facility; is of the opinion that it is essential to create synergies with other European policies in the areas of research and innovation, transport, the environment, energy, technology, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, and international cooperation;

34. Draws attention to the important role which the European Investment Bank, project bonds and public-private partnerships could play in providing funding for the investment required under the strategy;

35. Insists that the future Atlantic strategy must be based on the thematic pillars of the Europe 2020 Strategy, since this will make it possible to link the thematic contents with sectoral policies in an integrated way; takes the view, in this context, that the objectives and thematic concentration proposed for the five funds included in the common strategic framework for European cohesion policy for the next programming period should form the framework of the action plan; underlines the objectives of ‘strengthening research, technological development and innovation’, ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’, ‘supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy’ and ‘promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures’;

36. Calls for the partnership contracts and operational programmes to be bindingly geared to the corresponding priorities of the macroregional strategies in which they participate, in order to ensure that measures under the operational programmes and the priorities of macroregional strategies are closely aligned, resulting in the Structural Funds being used much more efficiently and added value being created at regional level; points out that this binding gearing must cover not only operational programmes falling under the cohesion policy’s territorial cooperation objective (INTERREG), but also the operational programmes for each region in the Atlantic area;

37. Supports the recognition and incorporation of preexisting territorial cooperation strategies, projects and experiences, which may offer lines of action and political and operational priorities to the action plan; calls for due account to be taken of the action plan during the design and implementation of future territorial cooperation programmes concerned by the strategy; believes, in addition, that technical support should be provided under the transnational strand of the European territorial cooperation objective for implementation of the action plan, inter alia so as to facilitate the pooling of best practice and networking;

38. Considers multiregional, multi-fund operational programmes and integrated territorial investment (ITI) to be particularly useful means of facilitating implementation of the action plan;

39. Proposes that the annual implementation reports for the relevant programmes should include an assessment of how programmes are contributing to the objectives of the Atlantic Strategy and the implementation of the Action Plan;

40. Points out that the outermost regions could serve as natural laboratories for research and development activities related to renewable energies and the maritime economy; draws attention to the importance of the tourism sector for these regions and to the possibility of setting up logistics platforms to facilitate the transport of goods between Europe and the other global economies;

41. Invites the national, regional and local authorities to look for synergies between their policies and the priorities of the action plan;

42. Points out that the involvement in the strategy of European funds under direct and shared management will make it necessary to devise a suitable management and control system, and therefore calls for the establishment of a management platform for the action plan, offering an information and communication module for beneficiaries and facilitating coordination among the various authorities responsible for managing the funds;

43. Recommends that the Atlantic Strategy must firstly agree on a Strategic Vision for the Atlantic Area, which will provide the reference for the Action Plan 2014-2020; further proposes that this Action Plan should:

- establish key priorities, measures and identify flagship projects;

- set out clearly defined roles and responsibilities for all policy and implementation stakeholders;

- set out key targets and a range of indicators to measure delivery;

- agree a process of evaluation and a mid-term review of achievements; and

- identify the necessary resources to implement the Action Plan.

44. Points out that an Atlantic Forum has been set up for 2012 and 2013 under a preparatory action proposed by Parliament, in order to involve all stakeholders in the drafting of the action plan; stresses that, as the instigator of the forum, Parliament has a leading role therein;

45. Proposes that the Action Plan be adopted by the Atlantic Forum, and calls on the forthcoming Irish presidency to prioritise European Council endorsement of the Action Plan during its term of office, with a focus on delivery, a credible process for monitoring and ongoing evaluation, and scheduling a mid-term review;

46. Calls on the Commission to study the possibility of also drawing up similar macroregional strategies in other regions where such a measure would lead to lasting and sustainable economic growth;

47. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee.

[1] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0089.
[2] Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0285.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Political background

In response to political requests from the Council and Parliament for a strategy for the Atlantic area, on 21 November 2011 the Commission published a communication entitled ‘Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area’.

In 2012 and 2013 the public and private Atlantic partners will be involved in the preparation of an action plan proposing specific actions. The strategy will then be launched in 2014 and will receive European, national and regional funding. The aim of this report is to put forward concrete proposals to define the political priorities of the action plan.

The need for a European political strategy for the Atlantic area

The Atlantic area has a number of defining characteristics:

· It is a dynamic maritime area, thanks to renewable marine energies, maritime transport, maritime industries, tourism and fishing.

· It is an area with a fragile marine environment that must be preserved.

· It is an area that forms the Western approach to the EU and therefore has a strategic position in Europe.

· It is an outlying area within the European Union, which raises issues of how to open it up and connect it with the rest of Europe.

These problems go beyond national borders and require political answers for the whole of the Atlantic seaboard.

The report proposes that the Atlantic strategy should take the form of a macro-regional strategy in order to promote synergies among the various instruments and levels of action involved in spatial planning policies. The macro-regional approach will also allow other actors on the ground (private sector, regional and local public authorities, civil society organisations) to be involved in defining and implementing the strategy’s objectives.

Priorities of the strategy

The report calls for the strategy to be built around two themes:

· maritime and terrestrial spatial planning and promotion of the land/sea interface

· stimulation of the economic fabric of the Atlantic regions through an industrial policy adapted to their specific characteristics.

A spatial planning policy for the Atlantic

The strategy should encourage sustainable exploitation of the Atlantic through coordinated management of all of the human activities that have an impact on the marine environment. Vigorous action will be required to safeguard the area’s ecological balance and biodiversity and to reduce the carbon footprint.

The strategy should also seek to improve risk prevention and risk management capacities in the Atlantic, particularly in connection with accidents, natural disasters and criminal activities. Coordination between partners on maritime safety and surveillance and civil protection issues needs to be maximised.

These maritime aspects should be supplemented and strengthened by territorial cohesion measures. The strategy will thus help to open up the Atlantic regions, connect the transport, energy and information networks, develop the rural and urban parts of the hinterland, and improve land/sea links. The report recommends, in particular, development of the motorways of the sea and transport infrastructures linking the Atlantic regions to the rest of Europe.

An industrial policy for the Atlantic

The strategy should support the competitiveness of the dynamic economic sectors in the Atlantic regions. Private-sector investment would thus be supported by the public authorities at the various decision-making levels in the areas of research and development, innovation, vocational training, cluster development and SME support.

The report identifies the main sectors that comprise the economic fabric of the Atlantic area and that must be taken into account in the strategy:

· renewable marine energies

· maritime transport and port services

· maritime industries, especially the ship-building industry

· fisheries and aquaculture

· tourism, including marine tourism.

Implementation of the strategy

The strategy will cover all of Europe’s Atlantic regions, including the coastal regions of the English Channel and the Irish Sea, the outermost regions and the overseas countries and territories. It will also develop measures on international cooperation.

The strategy will bring together the various partners involved, in particular the Member States, regional and local public authorities and organisations from civil society and the private sector. It will be introduced in 2014 and coordinated with the next multi-annual financial framework in the form of an action plan.

The Structural Funds and the Integrated Maritime Policy will form the basis of this action plan. Efforts should also be made to facilitate synergies with other European policies (research, energy, the environment, fisheries, international cooperation) and with the policies of the Member States and the regional and local authorities.

The strategy should strive to make better use of existing European funding, without creating any new budgetary instruments. The aim should be to ensure that the existing policies, in all sectors, have a clearer Atlantic focus. The report calls, too, for the introduction, for the next programming period of the Structural Funds, of measures to ensure that the operational programmes are more closely geared to the corresponding priorities of the macro-regional strategies.

Structure of the action plan

The strategy’s action plan will be drawn up during 2012 in the framework of the Atlantic Forum, which will be funded by a preparatory action of the European Parliament. All of the players concerned will be involved in the process. Parliament, represented by its rapporteur, will play a key role in this work.

The rapporteur proposes the following structure for the action plan:

-I- Opening up the Atlantic regions

· (a) Developing the motorways of the sea and sustainable maritime transport

· (b) Connecting the Atlantic area to the rest of Europe

· (c) Boosting the land-sea interface

-II- Supporting the competitiveness of the industrial sectors in the Atlantic area

· (a) Supporting marine and maritime research/development and innovation

· (b) Supporting investments by companies, especially SMEs

· (c) Encouraging vocational training and access for young people to maritime professions

· (d) Promoting the development of maritime clusters

· (e) Allowing sustainable exploitation of the natural resources of the marine environment

-III- Safeguarding the Atlantic environment

· (a) Preserving marine biodiversity and landscapes

· (b) Reducing the carbon footprint

· (c) Improving scientific knowledge of the marine environment

-IV- Responding to risks and emergencies

· (a) Facilitating exchanges of information on maritime safety and surveillance and observation of the marine environment

· (b) Coordinating civil protection efforts

· (c) Implementing joint measures to combat crime and illegal practices

In the context of the preparation of the action plan, the rapporteur believes that the following actions are interesting examples of good practices that should guide the reflections of the partners:

NAME	FIELD	OBJECTIVE
ATCLUSTERS	industrial clusters	encouraging cooperation among industrial clusters in the Atlantic area in order to facilitate their development
SEAS-ERA	research	coordinating the various marine research programmes within the European Research Area (development of a marine research plan for the Atlantic basin)
KIMERAA	marine resources	developing niches of excellence in the maritime economy by building bridges between scientific experts and businesses in the field of marine resources
MARINEKIC	marine resources	establishing a platform for research, training and innovation to allow sustainable exploitation of marine resources
MARMED	marine resources	promoting the use of marine resources for biomedical applications, in collaboration with industry
AUXNAVALIA	ship-building industry	improving the competitiveness of the auxiliary industry of the ship-building sector by encouraging the transfer of technologies
PROPOSSE	maritime transport	promoting short sea shipping as an alternative to other forms of freight transport
WATERBORNE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM	maritime transport	organising permanent dialogue between the private sector and the public authorities at the different levels in order to come up with an industrial strategy for maritime transport (in the field of research/development, training, compliance with social and environmental standards)
MAREN	renewable marine energies	facilitating the industry’s access to the results of high-quality research in the field of renewable marine energies
ENERGYMARE	renewable marine energies	setting up a transnational cooperation network to promote and develop renewable marine energies, in particular by testing experimental prototypes
ATLANTIC POWER	renewable marine energies	identifying new market niches and drawing up training programmes adapted to the needs of the renewable marine energies sector
ARCOPOL +	marine pollution	improving maritime safety and the prevention and response capabilities of the Atlantic regions to combat coastal pollution from oil and hazardous substances
ANCORIM	coastal risks	establishing a network for the exchange of knowledge and good practices to improve coastal risk management capacities (urbanisation, coastal erosion, pollution, etc.)
DURATINET	transport infrastructures	creating a network of excellence to promote the durability, safety and sustainability of transport infrastructures in the Atlantic area
BATTERIE	transport infrastructures	improving the efficiency of multi-modal logistics chains, in particular the effective interconnections between intermodal transport networks
START	transport	facilitating the use of public transport in the Atlantic area by improving intermodality and providing clearer information at the points of entry to the region (airports, ports, rail interchanges)
CFA-EFFIPLAT	rail transport	creating a transnational network of public authorities and public and private railway, logistics and port operators involved in improving rail and intermodal transport in the Atlantic freight corridor
MARLEANET	maritime vocational training	establishing a network of maritime vocational training centres in the Atlantic area
PRESPO	fisheries	promoting sustainable small-scale fisheries that help to keep jobs in the fisheries sector and boost the dynamism of coastal regions
CLIMATLANTIC	carbon footprint	developing strategies to reduce the carbon footprint at local and regional level
NEA2	marine tourism	promoting the sustainable and coordinated development of the marine tourism sector in Atlantic regions (activities, marinas, industries, businesses and services) by increasing cooperation on economic, environmental and social issues

OPINION of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (4.6.2012)

for the Committee on Regional Development

on the EU Cohesion Policy Strategy for the Atlantic Area
(2011/2310(INI))

Rapporteur: Silvia-Adriana Ţicău

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Transport and Tourism calls on the Committee on Regional Development, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Emphasises the importance of integrating the Atlantic region more closely into the trans-European transport networks; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote, in the context of the future TEN-T guidelines and the Connecting Europe Facility, the development of a comprehensive multimodal transport system across the Atlantic region, focusing on both the north–south and the west–east axes, while taking account of the particular features of the outermost regions; stresses the need to give priority to sustainable modes of transport such as rail, inland waterways and motorways of the sea, with a view to alleviating congestion in road transport, to define precisely the areas of logistics and of modal interchange, and to undertake a cost-benefit analysis for the use of each type of infrastructure;

2. Stresses the need for effective crossborder coordination and cooperation for the construction and use of road and rail infrastructures, including high-speed train lines, airports, seaports, inland ports, hinterland terminals and logistics, with a view to developing a more sustainable and multimodal transport system; recalls the importance of air/maritime transport and peripheral airport/port infrastructures for the social and economic cohesion of the outermost regions of the Atlantic area; underlines also the need to facilitate mobility between the Atlantic and other seaboards, especially the Mediterranean, in order to ensure efficient transport links;

3. Recognises the importance of developing the EU’s Atlantic ports, including oil and gas terminals and intermodal transport arrangements; emphasises that such infrastructure should be built in strict compliance with the highest European and international standards for the protection of coastal regions, human health and security, and after performing all relevant environmental impact assessments;

4. Believes that particular priority should be given to coordination and cooperation between seaports and to their connection with islands and inland regions via inland waterways and improved hinterland connections, so as to ensure that all parts of the region can benefit from the growth of maritime transport; recalls, in this context, the importance of adopting an integrated approach to the management of maritime/coastal zones and the hinterland, in particular by encouraging projects promoting the land-sea interface;

5. Stresses the need to increase the volume, efficiency and competitiveness of short sea shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, as an innovative and environment-friendly way to improve and diversify the trans-European transport networks, stimulate the activity of small and peripheral ports, and contribute to the reduction of road congestion and emissions; underlines the importance of prioritising the development of motorways of the sea in the context of the future TEN-T guidelines and the Connecting Europe Facility; invites the Atlantic states and seaport authorities to conclude memorandums of understanding with a view to promoting the development of motorways of the sea across the Atlantic seaboard including third countries;

6. Encourages, for the sake of the sustainability of the motorways of the sea and in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy, the establishment of specific recommendations concerning vessels, with a view to promoting the inclusion of propulsion systems with low carbon emissions and the use of building criteria that are demanding in terms of efficiency, comfort, capacity, safety, location and telecommunications; stresses that such recommendations should focus on increasing the efficiency of this mode of transport, preserving the environment and facilitating its integration with other transport networks and modes;

7. Calls for the improvement of the existing vessel monitoring systems, immediate application of EMSA’s strengthened powers, and the conclusion of data-sharing agreements between the competent authorities, in order to permit the identification and tracking of ships and fight threats such as crossborder crime, smuggling, illegal fishing and trafficking; stresses the importance of promoting the deployment and implementation of the European satellite navigation programmes (EGNOS and Galileo), in order to cover search and rescue support systems in the Atlantic; recalls the need to ensure long-term financing by the Union of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme, which contributes in particular to the prevention and management of maritime risks;

8. Recalls the benefits of creating a Single European Sky, with a view to strengthening territorial cohesion via increased traffic between regional airports within the Union, and therefore calls on the Commission to ensure the use of functional airspace blocks within the deadlines set to achieve this objective;

9. Believes that policy on airport infrastructures in the Atlantic area should take account of the particular nature of the Gibraltar airport, without prejudice to the respective legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland regarding the dispute over sovereignty of the territory in which that airport is located;

10. Emphasises the need for sustainable development of the main drivers of economic growth in the Atlantic area, in particular maritime transport, shipbuilding, fishing and aquaculture, tourism, and offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, as well as the need to promote research in the area of renewables and the diversification of the EU’s energy sources and energy supply routes; underlines the importance of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy for the harmonious and coordinated further development of the aforementioned maritime economic sectors in the Atlantic area;

11. Highlights the potential of the outermost regions, which form part of the global dimension of the Atlantic Strategy, as testing grounds for the sustainable management of oceans, seas and coastal areas; stresses that their location provides an opportunity for exploration and experimentation in the areas of marine energy, combating climate change, food security, protecting biodiversity, promoting aquaculture, and exploring biotechnologies and minerals; calls, therefore, for the outermost regions, given their specific characteristics, to be taken into account in the development of maritime and air transport;

12. Underlines the importance of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism for the regeneration of the Atlantic area and the creation of high-value, all-year-round jobs; stresses, therefore, the need to protect, and promote the attractiveness of, the Atlantic coastal areas, landscapes and cultural heritage, and to develop alternative and thematic tourism products, with a view to enhancing the region’s profile as a tourist destination and ensuring a sustainable economy; calls for better use of the EU support programmes in favour of tourism and for action to raise awareness concerning available funding instruments;

13. Recalls that the attractiveness, competitiveness and dynamism of the Atlantic coastal areas depend on strengthening their tourism potential; underlines the importance, therefore, of extending tourist seasons and of diversifying products and client bases in order to eliminate the effects of seasonality, promoting the numerous assets of these areas by also encouraging nautical tourism, cruises, spa tourism and cultural tourism, and promoting actions to ensure the linking of activities in coastal and maritime areas with tourism products in the hinterland; stresses the need to mitigate the impact of tourism activities and infrastructures on the environment and to ensure the management of coastal areas and their hinterlands with a view to guaranteeing the sustainability of these areas and their fauna, flora and landscape;

14. Stresses the importance, when consolidating high-quality tourist facilities, of incorporating agri-food and fish processing, especially that sourced from traditional agriculture and fishing; advocates strengthening short marketing chains in order to help keep added value in the local area;

15. Insists on the need to restore the attractiveness of the maritime professions and of those related to the fishing, aquaculture and processing sectors, in order to offer young people more employment opportunities and retain maritime expertise in the Atlantic region;

16. Calls on the Commission to adopt an Action Plan for the Atlantic Strategy by the end of 2013, incorporating flagship projects with broad involvement of all relevant stakeholders, institutional and administrative levels, economic and social actors and regional partners, and using all available financial instruments; believes that the Commission should continue to carry out regular reviews of the execution of priority projects and provide, together with the Member States involved, the necessary financing for their more rapid implementation;

17. Asks the Commission to include in its Action Plan the objective of making the Atlantic Ocean a model region for clean shipping and maritime safety and security; considers these objectives to be crucial in maintaining and enhancing the region’s potential for tourism;

18. Recalls that Article 349 TFEU recognises the need to take account of the specificities of the Union’s outermost regions, which are located mainly in the Atlantic region and are characterised by their insularity and remoteness; calls on the Commission to recognise in its Atlantic Strategy the great importance of air and sea transport for the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the outermost regions;

19. Stresses the importance of developing the external dimension of the Atlantic maritime strategy and its internationalisation, taking advantage of the strategic position of the outermost regions and encouraging, where appropriate, the participation of the EU’s transatlantic partners in the Atlantic Forum.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	31.5.2012
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	37 3 0
Members present for the final vote	Magdi Cristiano Allam, Inés Ayala Sender, Georges Bach, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Antonio Cancian, Michael Cramer, Joseph Cuschieri, Philippe De Backer, Luis de Grandes Pascual, Christine De Veyrac, Saïd El Khadraoui, Ismail Ertug, Carlo Fidanza, Jacqueline Foster, Mathieu Grosch, Jim Higgins, Juozas Imbrasas, Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, Jaromír Kohlíček, Georgios Koumoutsakos, Werner Kuhn, Eva Lichtenberger, Gesine Meissner, Mike Nattrass, Hubert Pirker, Dominique Riquet, Petri Sarvamaa, Debora Serracchiani, Laurence J.A.J. Stassen, Keith Taylor, Silvia-Adriana Ţicău, Giommaria Uggias, Thomas Ulmer, Artur Zasada, Roberts Zīle
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Andrea Cozzolino, Spyros Danellis, Sabine Wils, Janusz Władysław Zemke
Substitute(s) under Rule 187(2) present for the final vote	Patrizia Toia

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	21.6.2012
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	39 2 4
Members present for the final vote	François Alfonsi, Catherine Bearder, Jean-Paul Besset, Victor Boştinaru, John Bufton, Alain Cadec, Salvatore Caronna, Nikos Chrysogelos, Ryszard Czarnecki, Francesco De Angelis, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Brice Hortefeux, Danuta Maria Hübner, Filiz Hakaeva Hyusmenova, María Irigoyen Pérez, Seán Kelly, Constanze Angela Krehl, Petru Constantin Luhan, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Vladimír Maňka, Riikka Manner, Iosif Matula, Erminia Mazzoni, Miroslav Mikolášik, Jan Olbrycht, Younous Omarjee, Markus Pieper, Monika Smolková, Ewald Stadler, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Oldřich Vlasák, Kerstin Westphal, Joachim Zeller, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Antonello Antinoro, Cornelia Ernst, Pat the Cope Gallagher, Jens Geier, Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, James Nicholson, Ivari Padar, Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, Elisabeth Schroedter, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Patrice Tirolien

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