03/02/2022 (Agence Europe) – The 8th report on cohesion policy, which was initially due to be presented on Friday 4 February, has been postponed to Wednesday 9 February, according to information gathered on Thursday 3 February. The report is expected to be an important component on the “geography of discontent”, as French Minister for Territorial Cohesion Jacqueline Gourault told the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI) at the end of January (see EUROPE 12877/10). Thematic issues such as rural areas, sparsely populated areas and those with poor digital connectivity should be addressed. The last cohesion report was published just under five years ago, in October 2017. At the time, it addressed, among other things, the thorny issue of macroeconomic conditions (see EUROPE 11879/12). (PH)