‘Air and sea links to European Islands must be given incentives despite EU state aid rules’ – Sant

On PL MEP Alfred Sant's initiative, the Socialist and Democratic (S&D) Group at the European Parliament put forward a plenary amendment calling on the European Commission to pay due attention to the impact of state aid decisions on the connectivity of island and peripheral regions of the European Union.

In his intervention during a debate in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the Annual Competition Report, former Prime Minister Alfred Sant stressed that the citizens of insular, peripheral, and remote regions need to feel they are not a forgotten part of Europe. Sant called for European state aid rules to allow margins for proper transport connectivity among the block's insular, peripheral, and remote regions. He emphasized that the Annual Competition Report is an opportunity for some kind of democratic scrutiny over European Union action in the competition area. It is essential, therefore, that the report retains a strong focus on the direct impact European Union competition policy has on European citizens.

The Annual Competition Report is one of the annual European Parliament reports that is finalised through the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). It covers European policy on competition and the European Commission's work on the area.

The Labour MEP noted that transport connections between islands and peripheral regions and major European transportation hubs remain brittle and subject to disruption. As a result, this created for their citizens and businesses a permanent economic and social disadvantage, in particular when it comes to investment attractiveness and tourism, he said.

General state aid rules can create further handicaps in this context as air and shipping lines serving European islands and peripheral regions need to be incentivised so that constant and reliable transport connections are ensured, he said. To this end, Sant called for support to the S&D amendment.

It passed with 492 votes in favour, 101 against and 10 abstentions and became part of the report, which was then adopted.