Bairbre de Brún (GUE/NGL). – (The speaker spoke Irish)

I welcome the Fava report and the Olbrycht report and thank all the rapporteurs. I particularly welcome the efforts to strengthen the social and environmental aspects of the regulations. In dealing with these funds, we have generally fought hard to ensure that the role of NGOs is strengthened and that greater account is taken of the environment and to stress the importance of access for those with disabilities.

In welcoming the report by Mr Olbrycht on cross-border grouping of territorial cooperation, I want to stress that this will be of tremendous benefit to border regions and to divided countries such as my own. Structural funding should be Community-based and Community-driven, with all sections of the Community fully involved in the process.

In my own constituency, we can learn a lot from how other countries empower local communities and local democratic structures. I look forward to monitoring the progress of the new cross-border groupings. In Ireland, they will be particularly important in border counties and in the north-west region, which have experienced deprivation, under-investment and unemployment.