Insuleur - a bit of history

The insular predicament has become, during the last decade of the past century, the object of many actions and initiatives, on behalf of various actors at a local, national and European level.

Since 1994, the island Chambers of the European Union have developed remarkable activities, at first on an informal level, today more institutionalised.

Following an initiative of the Chambers Group for the Development of Greek Isles (EOAEN) - which was created to put an end to island isolation - the island Chambers of the EU organised a series of conferences:

• in 1994, on the island of Chios (Greece) on the subject: "Economic and Social Cohesion";
• in 1995, in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) on the subject: "Community policy for the sustainable development of EU island regions";
• in 1996, in Palermo (Italy) on the subject "The network of European islands - Projects and partnerships for an endogenous development";
• in 1999 in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe (France) on the subject "The islands of the European Union after Amsterdam - for a better competetitiveness and representativity of island undertakings and territories of the European Union".

It is during this conference that the creation of the "Network of Island Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the European Union" was decided. The statutes of the Network were approved at the Chania Chamber (in the town of Chania, on the island of Crete, Greece), on May 6th, 2000, with the participation of 26 Chambers of island regions of France, Greece, Spain and Italy.

On October 5, 2000 the first General Assembly of the Network was held in Rhodes, Greece, with the participation of 29 island Chambers of the European Union, the Chambers of Cyprus and of the Gozo island of Malta as associated members. The Cape Verde Chamber was admitted as an observer. In the following days the first Forum of the Network took place, on the subject "Sustainable development of insular small and medium enterprises in view of globalisation".

The following year, from November 1st to 4th in La Palma, Canary Islands, the second Forum of the Network choose the theme "For a development of durable tourism in the European islands".

In 2002, November 14th and 15th, the third Forum of the Network was hosted in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. The subject was "SMEs and insular handicaps: the actions of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry within the framework of the European Union".

Through its permanent representative in Brussels and the members of its Technical committee, the Network is permanently in contact with the European Commission, in order to locate sectors of co-operation in the framework of various European programs and initiatives.

The island Chambers also participate in the sessions of the Commission of Islands of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CRPM).

This regular co-operation between the members of the European Parliament, the representatives of local and regional authorities and the Chambers has contributed in a decisive way to the inclusion of specific provisions in favour of islands in the Amsterdam Treaty (article 158 and Protocol 30), as already mentioned.

Today, the ambition of the European Union island chambers is to become, with this Network, a generator of endogenous insular development, in close co-operation with regional and local authorities and island universities. The goal is to ensure the viability of economy by enhancing the competitiveness of insular undertakings.