• The European Commission is launching a new strategy to support remote EU areas of strategic importance, such as Madeira and the Canary Islands, in order to boost their economic and social development potential.
• The aim of the strategy is to make these regions more competitive, give them better access to the EU single market, and help them adapt better to climate change and tackle environmental challenges.
• The EU's most remote areas include French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion, Saint-Martin, the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, which are strategically located across three continents in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Caribbean, and South America.

The European Commission is launching a new strategy to support remote areas of the bloc that are struggling despite being of geostrategic importance, it said on Thursday.

Such territories include Madeira and the Canary Islands, which are closer to the coast of Africa than mainland Europe, or French overseas territories located thousands of kilometres away in the Pacific.

"We are adapting our regulations to unlock the potential of these regions and turn their uniqueness into a strength for them and for the whole of Europe," said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she presented the new measures.

The aim is to better support the regions and boost their economic and social development potential. Citizens should be better able to make use of the specific opportunities offered by their regions, the commission said.

Economic, environmental and social boost

The strategy involves making the regions more competitive and giving them better access to the EU single market.

There is potential in areas such as renewable energy, research and space exploration, the commission said. Brussels wants to help the areas adapt better to climate change and tackle environmental challenges, the statement said.

Other aims include promoting employment and social inclusion, improving access to education and reducing poverty.

The European Union's most remote areas are French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion and Saint-Martin, all of which are governed from Paris; the Azores and Madeira which belong to Portugal, and the Canary Islands which are Spanish.

The nine outlying areas are of strategic importance as they lie in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Caribbean and South America, giving the EU a presence across three continents.