During the European Week of Cities and Regions, the Regional Committee of the European Parliament and the relevant body of the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) held a joint meeting. Together with the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, they exchanged views on the new programming period 2021-27 and the territorial aspects of the EU’s reconstruction and resilience program.
With a view to the new implementation of the programs of the European Structural Funds, which will begin at the latest at the beginning of next year, the group called for full recognition of the so-called partnership principle and multilevel governance. The experiences with the participation of regional and local actors in the implementation of the ESF, ERDF, EAFRD etc. differ in the member states of the EU. The committees therefore asked the European Commission to address these recommendations to the responsible administrative authorities to improve the partnership processes.
With a volume of € 392 billion for the period 2021-2027, cohesion policy remains the EU’s main investment policy to reduce disparities between EU regions and strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion in the Union.
Due to the pandemic, the process of adopting the Structural Funds programs and the underlying partnership agreements between the EU countries and the Commission has been delayed. So far, according to a statement, only the partnership agreement with Greece has been adopted. The regional representatives therefore appealed to Commissioner Ferreira to speed up the process. They also spoke out in favor of maintaining the flexibility measures introduced last year for the EU structural funds due to Covid-19.
In addition to calling for the new investment programs to be accelerated, those present called for greater synergies between the national recovery and resilience plans and cohesion policy. This is particularly intended to avoid overlaps. In principle, the two committees criticized in the joint meeting that the territorial dimension of the reconstruction plans was not given enough consideration. They want the principle of economic, social and territorial solidarity to be fully observed also with the money from the construction fund.
On the occasion of the joint deliberations, Elisa Ferreira stated that cohesion policy was more important than ever. Investing in a recovery for all regions, in a green transition for all regions, in a digital transition that leaves no one behind and avoids a new digital divide, is the mission for the next ten years. “Let us responsibly and purposefully seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of exceptional cohesion funding and positive public awareness to create something future generations will be proud of,” she said.
In its October plenary session, the CoR adopted an opinion on how to effectively involve local and regional authorities in the preparation of partnership agreements and operational programs for the period 2021-2027. The text can be read here.