* unemployment and social instability resulting from the decline of traditional or environmentally-compatible sectors, such as small scale coastal fisheries; In many areas, professional coastal fishing is experiencing difficulties in remaining competitive.

34. Stresses that territorial cohesion is a horizontal concept covering the EU as a whole, which can enhance the links between coast and hinterland by virtue of the existing complementarities of and mutual influence between coastal and inner areas (e.g. connection of coastal activities to rural and urban tourism, improvement of out-of-season accessibility for tourism, increasing the profile of local products while encouraging their diversification); notes that the abovementioned Green Paper on future maritime policy makes special reference to island regions, acknowledging that they face particular developmental challenges due to their p ...[+++]ermanent natural handicaps; emphasises that similar problems are faced by coastal regions in general and calls on the Commission to take account of the need to link coastal tourism to the integrated management of coastal zones and spatial planning for the seas in the future implementation of territorial cohesion;

10. Welcomes therefore the participation of coastal regions in INTERREG IV B and C programmes and projects covering both transnational and interregional cooperation in the field of tourism and invites them to make effective use of EU initiatives and instruments for coastal regions (such as the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea Strategies and the Black Sea Synergy); strongly recommends that the Commission place greater emphasis on coastal regions in the new INTERREG programmes for the next programming period;

34. Stresses that territorial cohesion is a horizontal concept covering the EU as a whole, which can enhance the links between coast and hinterland by virtue of the existing complementarities of and mutual influence between coastal and inner areas (e.g. connection of coastal activities to rural and urban tourism, improvement of out-of-season accessibility for tourism, increasing the profile of local products while encouraging their diversification); notes that the abovementioned Green Paper on future maritime policy makes special reference to island regions, acknowledging that they face particular developmental challenges due to their p ...[+++]ermanent natural handicaps; emphasises that similar problems are faced by coastal regions in general and calls on the Commission to take account of the need to link coastal tourism to the integrated management of coastal zones and spatial planning for the seas in the future implementation of territorial cohesion;

28. Emphasises that pressure on coastal zones due to excessive physical infrastructure interventions is to the detriment of coastal tourism development and attractiveness, whereas those aspects could be fostered through high quality tourism services, essential for coastal regional competitiveness and the promotion of quality jobs and qualifications; invites, therefore, coastal regions instead to encourage alternative investments such as investments in ITC-based services, new potentials of local traditional products and high-quality training for workers of the tourism sector; calls, also, for the design of training programmes to create ...[+++]a pool of skilled workers, to deal with the increased complexity and variety of the tourism sector;

17. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the regions to draw up jointly an exhaustive catalogue, to be made available on the internet, of projects funded in the coastal zones, thus enabling the regions to learn from others' experience and permitting academia, the coastal communities and other interested parties to identify, publicise and maximise the transfer of best practices to the local communities; in this light recommends the setting up of a forum where interested parties can contact each other and share good practices and of a working group of representatives of Members States to develop action plans on coastal tourism a ...[+++]nd foster the exchange of experiences at institutional level;