European Parliament Socialist Group fonds - European University ...

i'j,::j
'I
Ii
~,
:1 1
(]',
fl
j
'I
III
I- l!
'..1:·~ ,I'
:,~I ,. ,'II
,~
I';
t I
IU.~N*_~
7ht saoLeliata ~IV. I1WIYI felt that the Burop••n community's raqional
poU~)' Ihollld llOlIaUtut. an. of the pUler. of Buropean int.gration. Th..
fACt that the glp lMIt....n the rich and poor region I 18 of the order of
? to 1 b totllll' unaeeeptabl. to u. sociallsts.. That is wily the Group
ha••l~••ttac~.d qreat importance to the regional poliey and why we want
to .ee thl 189iona1 Development Fund provided with the financial resources
enablinq it to conduot an .tfective poliey for the least favoured regions
of the Community. TO thi. end the GCoup tabled an am.utment to the Commission's
lnitial pcopoaal ~hich IllOClted 1,200 EUA to the Rsgional Fund. This
amendment to increase the lRDF appropriation to 1,300 EUAbut it waa
reject.d in committee. The Socialiat members of the committee justified
their aaendm&nt on the grounds that every possible effort must be made to
eliminata the enormou. di.paritie. between the rich and poor region. of
the Community, thia being a serious obstacle to the actual development of
community countriea. I shall return to this problem when dieeuBBing the
re.aan. why the socialiat Group r&jected ths budget proposed by the Council.
The Group Also drew up .pecific proposals for developing a consistent,
coordinated Approach to the problem of unempioyment and it haG stressed
that specific meaeure. muet be tAKen for regions in difficulty.
The Socialist member. of the committee have urged that the following
••p.ct. ohould be examined:
- the impact of Community poliey and activities On the regions:
- economic .nd inauotri8L trend. in the Member States during the 1970s~
the effect of the commOn asriculturel policy On the regions;
- the .ociel and economic profile of the poor region. in the Community;
- the ~1. and impact of pUblic and privete investment in the regions~
- the improvement of relations and information s.rvices be~een the community
Institution. ooncerned end local end regional authorities.
v
;~
"·s
,.'-';
I
I,.
IV. ~~~Q!_~Q~!£X
This io another sphere of p~rticuler concern to member. Of the
socialiet Group.
I rai.ed this problem at the group'. requa.t at the cut.et, in July
1979, during Plrliament's inaugural debate. [strB8ged then th~t it wa.
important for the community to deviee an energy policy that was more
independent of foreign p~era and of the major undertaking. in thie field.
To thia end I proposed the creation of ~ ~uropean enerqy agency, one of
whoee purpose. would be to supervise the multinational oil companies. and
which should be empowered to negotiate directly with the producer countries
on energy supply,
of the multinationals.
to this proposal.
on nuclear energy the Group's position i. olear: safety ia the prime
concern. Several members of the Group have accordingly tabled written
questions on this sUbject. as well as an oral question with request for
debate. which was held durin~ the February part-seseion.
Faced with the urgent need for the Community to seek alternative
sources of energy so as to rsduce our dependence on the oil-produe'fig
countries, the Group propoeee, Ln the immediate term:
1. Increaaed development of Community ooal produotion~ member. of the Group
have tabled a motion On thi. aUbject:
2~ Practical ffieaaures in the field of energy s~ving8, whieh must derive
not only from recommendations by government. but mare particularly from
Community directives
thus pr.. aerving us from the middleman and the rapacity
with regara to nuclear energy.
Unfortunately the Council has atill not responded
the Group is opposed to giving any
'strong fresh impetus' to nuclear power, e. recommended by the council at
its meeting of 21 and 22 June 1979. until such tims as every possible
safeguard is provided. For it seem. unacceptable to us to embark today
On the conetruotion of certain types of reactors, before even taking note
of the report which the Commis.ion is currently drafting on the accidsnt
at Three Mil. Ielend end its consequence. for the community'. nuclear
power programmes, at the ri.k of having to withdraw them fr.om the market
later if they prove dangerous. The fact that crack. have recently been
di.covsred in lome metal component. of nuclear power reactor. in France
and Belgium prove. how right we Were to say that the problem of .sfaty i.
an urgent priority.
- 7 -
l'E/GS!33!BO
- B -
PE/GS/33!BO