04/05/2018 (Agence Europe) – The French territorial cohesion minister reacted rather coldly in a press release on Friday 4 May to announcements by the European Commission on post-2020 Cohesion Policy (see EUROPE 12013). Jacques Mézard welcomed the overall coverage of the European territory, the maintaining of the European Region Development Funds and the tightening of thematic priorities but notes the 5% reduction in the EU budget earmarked for Cohesion Policy (a reduction that other forecasts suggest will be much higher – see related article). Paris is concerned about shortcomings in this first draft budget that do not, at this stage, give sufficient guarantees for France for tackling territorial fragmentation. The National Conference of the Territories will be held in July and provide an opportunity to formulate specific proposals. (PH)