EU Commission wants to strengthen islands and coastal regions

In addition, environmental protection is to be promoted in the regions. They are at the forefront of the fight against climate change, the loss of marine biodiversity and marine pollution. These factors affect their long-term resilience and economic growth.

According to the Commission, the challenges faced by these regions also include climate vulnerabilities such as water scarcity, declining populations and geographical isolation and the associated high transportation and travel costs.

Far-flung islands and coastal regions not included

For the first time, the Commission has now presented strategies for the 17 million people living on over 4,000 islands in 16 EU Member States and 96 million people living along the coasts and coastal areas in 22 EU Member States.

The proposals are not intended to apply to islands and coastal regions "on the outermost periphery of the EU". These include, for example, the Canary Islands, the Azores and French Guiana. They will be the subject of a separate strategy to be presented later this year.