The Cohesion Alliance launched an appeal to Member States on Wednesday 24 March, the day before the European Council, to better involve local and regional authorities in the drafting and implementation of national plans for recovery and resilience and to avoid a "vaccine divide" of territories.
Although local and regional authorities are at the forefront of the management of the pandemic, the Alliance notes that they have no say in the Recovery Plan, as a recent study (see EUROPE 12648/15) has also shown. For the Alliance, it is necessary to “fully” respect the principles of partnership and multi-level governance.
Furthermore, the Alliance is concerned about the slow ratification of the recovery plan for Europe which prevents the European Commission from borrowing on the capital markets.
It also fears a risk of fragmentation of vaccination campaigns due to the growing inequalities between European regions and competition for vaccines. For the Alliance, it is necessary to ensure the closest possible coordination by including regional authorities. “We must do everything possible to avoid a ‘vaccine divide’ that would increase inequalities between our regions, cities and villages”, the Alliance said in its statement.
On Tuesday 23 March, the European People’s Party (EPP) and the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions (EPP-CoR) adopted a joint declaration to better take into account the regional level in the development of the Plan.
For the EPP statement: https://bit.ly/3rhpdGV (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)