Follow-up to Written Question P-004140/2016 on Parliament’s resolution of 4 February 2016 on the special situation of islands

Question for written answer
to the Commission
Rule 130
Alfred Sant (S&D)

E-006299-16
Subject: Follow-up to Written Question P-004140/2016 on Parliament’s resolution of 4 February 2016 on the special situation of islands
With reference to the answer given to Written Question P-004140/2016 on Parliament’s resolution of 4 February 2016 on the special situation of islands, can the Commission state:
— which islands are considered to be in less developed regions and are benefiting from the most favourable level of support;
— what the specific programmes or strategies targeted to each of these islands are;
— how these programmes and strategies are being implemented in each case.

Joint answer given by Ms Creţu on behalf of the Commission
Written questions: E-006300/16 , E-006299/16
All NUTS2 level regions(1) consisting solely of island Member States or of islands which form part of Member States receiving Cohesion Fund support, or all outermost regions, benefit from the most flexible thematic concentration requirements under Article 4 (1) of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regulation No 1301/2013(2) for the 2014-2020 period, in the same way as less developed regions.
The ERDF programmes are public information and can be accessed e.g. via Commission open data platform(3) and the responsible national authorities’ websites, in line with shared management governing cohesion policy. In line with the Common Provisions Regulation for the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds(4), managing authorities are responsible for the implementation, monitoring and reporting of programme progress, which contributes to reporting by the Commission on the ESI Funds.
There are only few EU-wide studies and data collections covering islands, due to the sub-regional and sometimes sub-local character of many islands. Insofar that islands correspond to NUTS2 or NUTS3 regions, their characteristics have been analysed(5) together with those of other EU regions in the Cohesion Report, the Regional Yearbooks of Eurostat or studies carried out by ESPON(6)