Article 170 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) states that action by the Union shall take account, in particular, of the need to link islands and peripheral regions with the central regions of the Union. Article 174 establishes that the Union shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions and that particular attention shall be paid to regions, which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as islands.
"Additionally, Article 175 states that Member States shall conduct their economic policies and shall coordinate them in such a way to attain the objectives set out in Article 174. The formulation and implementation of the Union’s policies and actions and the implementation of the internal market shall take into account the objectives set out in Article 174 and shall contribute to their achievement. The Union shall also support the achievement of these objectives by the action it takes through the Structural Funds, the European Investment Bank and the other existing Financial Instruments".
So MEP Picula, on this basis, asked the Commission together with his colleagues from the S&D, to explain how and to what extent its proposal for the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework takes into account these articles of the TFEU.
