“The biggest problem the mountain areas face is the demographic. The mountainous regions in Europe become depopulated and this fact raises considerable concern. Without people, the potential the mountains have may be lost and thereafter the rich culture and history.” This is what Vice-president Iliana Yotova said, who opened a discussion on “Cohesion policy in the mountain areas” in Brussels, at the invitation of the European Commission and the European Association of Mountain Areas “Euro-Montana.”
The depopulation of the Bulgarian mountains is one of the basic reasons which made Iliana Yotova, in her term as MEP, initiate a report on the mountainous regions the aim of which was to attract special attention and create new opportunities for investments steered through European funds. The proposal whereby an allocation of funds to the mountainous regions should be envisaged in the next programming period was supported by a huge majority in the European Parliament in 2016. “The report was designed to include the mountainous regions in the cohesion policy via a couple of basic goals. The issue of putting the mountain areas on the agenda was raised, which would ensure a better review of the needs for development, how these needs can be met and how the cohesion policy may be more active in this respect,” the Vice-president said.
Iliana Yotova noted that the mountainous regions have acquired a special significance in the Lisbon Treaty as well and deserve special attention in the actions the EU takes to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion policy. “The mountains within the EU are very different. However, all of them share some characteristics the EU policies might focus on,” Iliana Yotova said.
The Vice-president recalled the basic highlights in the initiative in support of the mountainous regions. The report envisages boosting employment through dual education and investments in the SMEs, particularly in the sphere of tourism, ecological agriculture and crafts, the production of different types of renewable energy. To avoid depopulation, the report pays attention also to the infrastructure – roads and high-speed internet, which creates conditions for the young people to develop business activities. There are many deposits of natural resources in the mountains, among which is one of the most precious public goods of modern civilization – drinking water. Environmental protection and climate change adaptation is a key element in the report. Taking advantage of these opportunities will ensure that the mountainous regions in the EU will flourish, if due attention is paid to them.
The report on the mountain areas was supported by the European Commission and the proposal will be included in the next financial period, which was the reason why the Vice-president was invited to open the specialized discussion on the topic in Brussels.
The “Cohesion policy in the mountain areas” forum in Brussels is a continuation of the work on Iliana Yotova’s report and is particularly important with respect to the upcoming discussion of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework. Cohesion Policy was also part of the Vice-president’s statement. “Cohesion policy, as one of the EU’s basic investment instruments, can do more than it currently does for the development of the mountain areas,” the Vice-president said and recalled that at the insistence of President Rumen Radev Cohesion Policy was included in the Rome Declaration and will be one of the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.