Brussels, 23/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the informal meeting of the EU ministers with responsibility for town and country planning, which was held in Gödöllõ on 20 May (EUROPE10383), the president of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) expressed her greatest concern at the risk of an amalgam between the cohesion policy and the implementation of the EU 2020 strategy. We must ensure that the cohesion policy is not given over entirely to the implementation of the EU 2020 strategy, particularly from the point of view of resources, which are already not enough to fulfil the cohesion objectives satisfactorily. “The cohesion policy has its own objectives, which are enshrined in the treaty (…). It is a development policy and not just a growth policy”.
Bresso also drew attention to “the sideslipping represented by increasing sectorialisation of the implementation of the cohesion fund”. In order to increase the effectiveness of the cohesion policy, “we must ensure a better local consistency and synergising, by returning to a multi-sectorial and integrated approach”. (G. B./transl.fl)