The matter is also very important for Greece with some thousands of islands in Aegean, Ionian and Cretan Seas ...

How to harness the economic potential of Europe's islands was the subject of a report backed by MEPs yesterday. According to the report Europe's islands - home to 15 million people - are under threat from poor infrastructure, high fuel costs and illegal migration. As the standard of living is 63% of the EU average MEPs called for state aid to Europe's regions to take into account the specific nature of Islands. 
 
Francesco Musotto, the Italian European People's Party MEP who drafted the report told MEPs of the potential energy sources that islands posses. As the search for renewables gathers then the wind, sea and sun that islands have great "potential value" as sources of energy, he told the House. The need to encourage sustainable tourism was also raised.  The report also calls for the EU to have its own coastguard to protect islands from the "human tragedy" of migration. Last year thousands of mainly African immigrants landed in the Canary Islands. The year 2010 is going to be the "European Year of Islands".