11/04/2019 (Agence Europe) – Reacting to the decision by EU leaders to extend the Article 50 period until 31 October, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) warned Member States on Thursday 11 April of a potentially considerable delay in negotiations on the next European budget for 2021-2027. Cities and regions' fears include the risk of having to face funding interruptions. “We must provide the certainty necessary to protect our economies (...), which means urgently agreeing on a sufficient European budget for regions and cities to plan their investments for the future”, said the President of the Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz. As a reminder, the CoR, like the European Parliament, wants to increase the overall budget to 1.3% of GNI and maintain the allocation for future cohesion policy at its current level. (PH)