Courtesy translation - 5 - Proposals of Mr Vasco Cordeiro, President of the Regional Government of the Azores, for the office of the CPMR Presidency for 2014-2016 A new time for the European Union and the CPMR 2014 marks the beginning of a new political and institutional cycle for the European Union. For that reason, and as a result of the elections for the General Assembly of Umea in September, a new phase for the CPMR will also begin, bringing renewed challenges to our regions, challenges to which I am committed to give my contribution. It is my understanding that the initial mission of the CPMR’s Presidency for the 2014-2016 period is to ensure privileged political connections between our organisation and the new members of the Commission and the Parliament, as well as to ensure a close technical relation with the Commission senior officials as regards matters of greater interest for the peripheral and maritime regions. The connection to the European Parliament shall in fact constitute a priority, aiming, from the start, at continuing the Sea and Coastal Areas Intergroup and strengthening the support of CPMR to its functioning. The new configuration of the Parliament, on the other hand, also presents challenges for the action of CPMR and shall be used to demonstrate, once more, its technical capacity for the analysis of the different subject matters and its ability to submit proposals and to represent the interests of Europe’s peripheral and maritime regions. Regarding the European Commission, it will be essential to work towards the empowerment of Sea- related matters with a view to ensure that the development and effective implementation of the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) is part of the priorities of the new College. CPMR should also continue its work to strengthen the relationship with the Council, most particularly by monitoring and promoting the implementation of the Greek Presidency’s initiative regarding the creation of a Council’s specific configuration for the cohesion policy. This action should be particularly oriented now also to the Italian presidency and the following rotating presidencies, as the diversity of our members, the representativeness of the Political Bureau and its privileged connections to the Member States offer a significant added value for our future action in this field. This is, in fact, a dimension that I intend to privilege in terms of organisation and internal functioning. In all these domains, our action should not only follow the institutional agenda, but also seek to influence and determine the priorities of the European Union in the topics more closely related to the maritime and peripheral nature of our regions. The same applies to the Committee of the Regions, of which I am a member. The CPMR must strengthen its connection and institutional relation with the Committee, not only through its President, but also through the action of the representatives of the peripheral and maritime regions that are members of the Committee, so that the opinions of that EU organism may accommodate and reflect the political positions of the CPMR. The intrinsic link of CPMR with the creation of the Committee of the Regions reinforces our responsibility of becoming more visible and active as regards the topics with special importance for our regions, as well as the institutional debate about the reinforcement of the Committee’s own role. On the other hand, the structure and the interconnection capacity of the CPMR may represent an added value to the Committee of the Regions as a vehicle to promote and bring visibility to its opinions. Our organisation should therefore become particularly active in the next two years, renewing and reinforcing its position of influence and leadership near the main stakeholders of the European institutions. This should, in fact, be the basic prerequisite for efficiently defending the interests of the peripheral and maritime regions. 1 A Presidency that is proud of the past and capable of meeting the challenges of the future It is only fair to acknowledge the important work developed by the CPMR in a particular context of economic, financial and political crisis, which affected, although with different intensity and consequences, all our regions, particularly in what regards unemployment amongst our fellow citizens. Recent years have also been marked by difficult and long negotiations regarding the multiannual financial framework, funds and programmes for 2014-2020. Fortunately, the CPMR was able to rise to the challenges and to maintain the same number of members, as well as the sustainability of its budget and to improve the technical quality, the institutional prestige and the political influence of its action . In fact, the work on the model and structure of the cohesion policy for 2014-2020 deserves to be stressed. This was only possible by combining the contributions of the leaderships of Jean Ives Le Drian and Annika Jansson with the action of the vice-presidents and members of the Bureau, as well as that of the presidents of the Geographical Commissions and the undeniable technical quality and fundamental support of the CPMR General Secretariat, led by Eleni Marianou. This spirit of dedication and joint collaboration is the basis of an important commitment of my candidacy: a determined and responsible presidency, rising to the challenges currently faced by the EU and Europe, our regions and our organisation; a presidency imbued in the spirit of solidarity that would be able to bring together the contributions of all the CPMR responsible bodies and stakeholders and also to enhance the participation of all its members. Maintaining and strengthening the vitality and pro-activeness of the CPMR in the years to come depends, as always, on the commitment of all its member-regions, which I am sure will continue to acknowledge the value of our joint collaboration and will remain active in our organisation. The economic and financial crisis, imposed supplementary challenges to our regions, in particular in what regards economic development, job creation and the consequent loss of credibility of the European project. However, the fact that we are so close to our economy and our citizens should encourage us to take on the mission of creating, on the short term, solutions for our enterprises and employability for our citizens. Therefore, now more than ever, regions are invited to play a more direct role in the interconnection between citizens and the European project, translating it into concrete, measurable actions. The decentralisation and the enhancement of regional capacity are, in my opinion, essential to emerge from the crisis, which is also one of identity and of policies, in which Europe is submerged. The European spirit that our regions embrace provides us with legitimacy to bring forward to the European institutions the relevance of CPMR stance and proposals, focused on solidarity, regionalism and economic, social and territorial cohesion . This is also one of the main thrusts of my candidacy, and that keeps with CPMR best practices: the uncompromising defence of the interests of Europe’s peripheral and maritime regions, as well as of the inspiring principles of our joint action, as our contribution to a European action that respects subsidiarity and proportionality, multilevel governance and regional power. In this regard, I believe and suggest that the CPMR focuses, during the next two years, in the areas that form the core of our joint action and that are the reason behind our existence: Maritime and Cohesion Policies as horizontal priorities, without forgetting the defence of regionalism and multilevel governance as fundamental instruments to protect and uphold the European project. These policies should be comprehensive and adjustable to the EU’s current institutional momentum and coupled with fundamental thematic axes, such as, accessibilities, macro-regions, energy, climate change and external relations. 2 Maritime Policy: the core of CPMR action The CPMR must ensure that the development and enforcement of the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP), endowed with the necessary human and material resources, is part of the priorities of the new College of Commissioners. We do know that the CPMR has had a vital role in the initial, structuring phase of the IMP (as well as in its action plan and macro-regional strategies, among others) and we believe it is now time to enhance its proactive stance, considering the second development phase of the IMP . Therefore, the action of the CPMR should focus, for the time being, on blue growth and the potential of development of sea activities in our regions, without neglecting the environmental component of its implementation , as provided for in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and the external and global dimension of the IMP. In this regard, the development of the sea basin strategies raises a particular challenge: combining activities between the CPMR, its several Geographical Commissions, the regions themselves, the Member-States and the European Union. In fact, the maritime territory of the CPMR member-regions has enormous potential for development in favour of Europe, providing unique comparative advantages that result from their maritime and peripheral nature, their diversity and their political and institutional relevance. “Blue growth” represents thus a new phase on the IMP implementation and must be a priority for the CPMR, one that is closely linked to innovation, research, development of new technologies and tradable goods considering the biological, mineral and energy resources of the sea. Our great concern on this matter is to put this potential at the service of our regions and populations by enhancing our work and exchange of knowledge and good practices in the fields of blue biotechnologies, marine and maritime research, naval industry, employment and training (in this case, it is of utmost importance to continue the Vasco da Gama project), maritime and coastal tourism and fisheries.