EU Strategy on the Alpine Region

Key points:

The EESC :

• sees the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) as an element of value added for the Alpine area as well as a driver for development that can nurture the competitiveness and cohesion of Europe as a whole;

• regrets that the EUSALP does not put the social dimension on the same footing as the environmental and economic aspects;
• believes it is essential to conceive innovation strategies that more effectively nurture competitiveness and generate jobs, attract new investment, strengthen action in support of agriculture and forestry and make the most of the varied forms of tourism in the area;

• finds it necessary to shrink goods and passenger road transport and to promote environmentally sustainable accessibility to tourist areas;

• finds it important to maintain a balance between the conservation of natural and cultural capital and its rational use, ecological connectivity, the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, and a secure energy supply that is affordable and of a high quality;

• calls for the EUSALP to have  an effective multilevel governance;

• stresses therefore that it is essential to support and enhance the participation of civil society in shaping the EUSALP;

• finds that when it comes to the EUSALP's monitoring and evaluation systems, it is vital to accompany quantitative measurement with qualitative indicators;
• welcomes the proposals that aim to enhance the synergies between the EUSALP and other existing macrostrategies, also with a view to projecting the concept of macroregions towards other European areas.