EU ministers in charge of cohesion policy have been invited by the French Presidency of the EU Council to hold a first exchange on the future of cohesion policy after 2027, as part of an informal meeting in Rouen on Tuesday 1 March.
According to the framework document obtained by EUROPE, the French Presidency will ask two questions. Firstly, it will seek to define the possible prioritisation of investments under the Cohesion Fund and the possible redirection of a significant part of the funds to targeted groups. Secondly, it will try to identify, together with the ministers, those “levers” to reduce the “geography of discontent” and therefore “avoid [this phenomenon] becoming a danger for the European project”.
The discussions will be based on the European Commission’s 8th Cohesion Report, which was recently presented. It notes, among other things, significant economic stagnation among transition and middle-income regions, while emphasising, inter alia, the importance of extending the principles of cohesion to all European policies (see EUROPE 12887/2).
The meeting will only last for one morning. It will also take place a few days earlier than the 9th Summit of Cities and Regions in Marseille, which will be dedicated to the role of local and regional authorities in the Conference on the Future of Europe. The aim, we were told, would be to have conclusions adopted at the General Affairs Council on 30 May.
To consult the Presidency’s framework note: https://aeur.eu/f/gg (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)