The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Apostolos Tzizikostas, urged the European Commission on Wednesday 27 April to put in place a mechanism to help local and regional authorities make the most effective use of EU funds in hosting Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.
At the plenary session and during a press briefing, Mr Tzitzikostas stressed once again that the full range of emergency aid made available by the European Commission (five EU funds in all) did introduce flexibilities, but remained too complex for the managing authorities (see EUROPE 12939/15).
Responding to EUROPE, the President of the Committee of the Regions recalled that this was in no way the creation of a new European fund, but rather a tool, a mechanism to help the regions.
“We want to make a single entry point for mayors and presidents of regions where they can request assistance from the European Commission to use these funds”, explained an internal source. At present, each fund has a directorate general with specific requirements, which poses great difficulties for local and regional authorities, who are overwhelmed by Ukrainian refugees.
During her speech, the Commissioner for Cohesion Policy and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, heard President Tzitzikostas’ appeal. In particular, she mentioned the creation of a specific web page, a “one-stop shop”, for the Directorates-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), Employment and Social Rights (DG EMPL) and Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME).
This web page is not public, two European sources told us. It is a dedicated internal platform for managing authorities to help them use European funds, especially in the framework of the CARE and CARE+ initiatives.
Ukraine’s accession to the EU
At the press briefing, the President stressed the need to open the procedure for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, also argued for an accession process, recalling that Ukraine has always been a peaceful European state, fighting for European values.
€800 billion
Asked by EUROPE about Ukraine’s need for financial aid, Mr Klitschko stressed that the first priority was to stop the war, and then, once the war was over, it would be time to rebuild Ukraine. He said that the final figures were not yet known, but that the government was talking about sums close to $800 billion. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)