Brussels, 03/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - As part of the 25th anniversary of the Interreg programme, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted a statement on the future of cross-border cooperation at the meeting of its Bureau on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 September. At this meeting, a call was made for a simplification of procedures, improved integration of cross-border policies in European policies and more investment.
The members of the CoR are therefore calling for greater simplification of European territorial cooperation projects (ETP) and a reduction in administrative costs that hamper the activities carried out by regional and local authorities. They are also calling for harmonisation of the controls exercised by the European Commission. Last July, the Commission set up a high-level group to improve simplification over the 2014-2020 period (see EUROPE 1135).
They also appealed for “an increase, as part of the European strategy for tackling investment deficits in Europe, cross-border investments, particularly in the energy field, as well as digital infrastructure and transport”. In addition, they highlighted the need to tackle the “lack of cross-border transport connections”. This request was also repeated in the observations made regarding the European Union's general budget for the 2016 tax year by the transport and tourism committee at the European Parliament. It is concerned by the reduction in the budget for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to the advantage of the European Fund the Strategic Investment (EFSI).
In this statement, the CoR also highlights the need to include the cross-border dimension in the development of European strategies and in the use of EU instruments. It argues for this aspect to be included at all levels of the European decision-making process.
The CoR is now keen to support post-2020 Cohesion Policy, to which European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu also gave her strong backing (see EUROPE 11377). (Pascal Hansens)