10. Condemns all acts of violence and all human rights violations in the east of the DRC and in the Great Lakes region, and expresses its solidarity with the people of the DRC afflicted by the war; calls on all the forces participating in the conflicts in the east of the DRC to respect human rights and international humanitarian law, to cease all attacks on civilians, particularly women and children, and to afford access and protection to humanitarian agencies coming to the assistance of the suffering civilian population;

Old proven recipes therefore need to be preserved, but old and new recipes must be combined if agriculture is to be maintained as the lifeblood of mountainous areas, and other major factors must also be incorporated into this approach, namely a wide range of sustainable uses of natural resources, the creation and improvement of transport networks – not only physical transport but also Internet access and communications networks – the improvement and development of municipal and local services – which is made all the more difficult in these areas by the dispersed settlement pattern – and reinforcement of the social fabric.

Under exceptional circumstances a region can also benefit from assistance from the fund where it has been affected by an extraordinary disaster affecting the major part of its population with serious lasting repercussions on living conditions and the economic stability of the region.

EU Solidarity Fund: Commission proposes EUR 8.6 million for Spanish regions hit by "Prestige" disaster

In the top 10% of regions with the lowest unemployment rates, youth unemployment averaged only 5.5%, whereas it stood at 41.8% in the bottom 10% of regions.

Mr President of the Commission, if we do not manage to create true solidarity between the rich and the poor regions, then this Union will be all the poorer and it will not meet with the approval of the people.