Regions of the Union: economic and social situation and development. 6th periodic report

In adopting the report by Mr Berend (EPP/ED, D), the European Parliament approves the resolution on the Sixth Periodic Report on the Social and Economic Situation and Development of the Regions of the European Union. The European Parliament calls on the Commission to: - extend the analyses relating to the regions' competitiveness to include the Central and Eastern European countries in its next report; - analyse the need for recuperation and emergence of the informal economy as an important factor in a region's economic situation; - devote a specific chapter in its next report on economic and social cohesion to consideration of the impact of the measures adopted under Article 299(2) of the EC Treaty, on the economic and social development of very peripheral regions; - take appropriate account of the effect of the measures adopted on employment when selecting development strategies; - improve the legal bases for cooperation between regions in the Member States and the applicant countries; - carry out an accurate evaluation of the Member States' activities in regions for which Structural Fund resources have been approved and to be strict in its monitoring and urges the Member States to ensure that financial or political operations in regions qualifying for assistance strengthen and underpin the goal of economic and social cohesion; - examine with due speed the operational programme for the regions for the new support period (2000-2006) in the light of the results of the sixth periodic report and to do everything possible to ensure that this support period can begin without any delay. The Parliament regrets the Commission's failure to include mention in its Sixth Report of the importance at regional level, in many of the EU's regions, of the fisheries sector as an endogenous factor of economic and social development, or of the resultant need to maintain a structural policy taking account of its particularities with a view to effectively contributing to economic and social cohesion in the Union's regions.�