As part of the European Week of Regions and Cities (see EUROPE 13039/9), the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) published its annual report on the state of regions and cities on Tuesday 11 October. It calls for greater involvement of local authorities in Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts and in the design of EU programmes and funds.
Involving the regions in the reconstruction of Ukraine...
Migration flows, inflation, risk of recession... The regions closest to Ukraine are the most affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the report points out, and local authorities are usually at the forefront of managing the consequences of the conflict.
Therefore, for one in two respondents, the most effective way to rebuild Ukraine would be to involve European local authorities. This position is shared by the CoR, which launched the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine in June 2022.
“The alliance promotes city-to-city and regions-to-region connections to identify needs and availabilities [...], but it also stresses the importance of having the local and regional level in the whole reconstruction process”, said Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the CoR, at a press event.
... and in the design of European policies
The CoR also calls for greater involvement of local authorities in the design and implementation of European policies and funding. While 89% of respondents call for more influence of cities and regions on the future of the EU, the report highlights one of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which calls for reform of the CoR to give it an “enhanced role in the EU’s institutional architecture, if matters with a territorial impact are concerned” (see EUROPE 12949/24).
Furthermore, the report stresses the need to include regions and cities in the design of national recovery plans so that they better respond to the diversity of needs on the ground. It denounces the “lack of a proper territorial angle” on the part of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the budgetary instrument of the European recovery plan, a situation which risks “widening territorial differences in the EU, undermining in part [...] the work of cohesion funding”. Today, only 10% of respondents feel that they were fully (1%) or partially (9%) involved.
The environment and the social divide at the heart of the concerns
Finally, five out of ten respondents believe that one of the main objectives of European funding is to support the ecological transition of the economy. 77% felt that the social and economic impact of the war in Ukraine requires the adaptation of EU policies and funding, in particular to mitigate the effects of rising energy prices (48%).
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/3j7
Read the factsheet: https://aeur.eu/f/3ju (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)