Brussels, 07/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Extending an overall positive welcome to the personal orientation paper of Pawe³ Samecki on the future of the cohesion policy of the EU (EUROPE 10032), the president of the Assembly of European Regions (AER), Michèle Sabban, described it as "a step in the right direction, especially in view of the Commission's absurd flirtations with 'renationalising' cohesion policy at the expense of territorial cohesion objectives" (EUROPE 10005). However, in the president's view, this paper "does not go far enough in supporting a system of truly multi-level governance, whereby the regional level is seen as a real partner rather than an afterthought".
In a press release, the AER states that: (1) the objective of "competitiveness" should be given a broad definition. A territory cannot be competitive, the Assembly explains, without, for instance, high-quality public services or local support for SMEs, which are the main driving forces behind Europe's growth levels; (2) strong regional institutions are a key pre-condition of future economic growth. Stronger regions perform better economically than regions of highly centralised countries. For this reason, capacity building should not be limited to the Commission and member states alone; (3) better coordination between EU funding instruments should go still further. For example, the rural development fund should be shifted into the cohesion policy framework to avoid unnecessary complexity and administrative burdens. Overall, the Assembly takes the view that Mr Samecki's personal opinion document does not pay enough attention to the need to coordinate the cohesion policy with all EU policies with a regional impact. (G.B./transl.fl)