While the European Week of Regions and Cities (see EUROPE 13039/9) was in full swing, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) closed its 151st plenary session on Wednesday 12 October. The place of regions and cities in COP27, the relaunch of the Cohesion Alliance and the follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe were among the topics discussed. Members stressed the need not to lose sight of the long-term objectives, be it climate ambitions, cohesion policy or EU reforms, including in times of crisis.
Local authorities must be formally involved in COP27
The Committee launched the day’s work with a debate on COP27, to be held in November in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Members called for a formal and greater involvement of local and regional authorities in the discussions. For the first time, “multi-level governance will be discussed at the COP [with] an initiative on sustainable urban climate policy, in which we try to make the voice of cities heard”, welcomed Sharon Dijksma, Mayor of Utrecht and special envoy for the network of cities at the UN, hoping however that this is “the last time that cities do not have an formal position within the COP”.
Present at the session, Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Dutch), MEP and Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment (ENVI), recalled that managing the impacts of climate change is becoming a key issue in international climate negotiations. He said that, in this context, “the role of regional authorities is becoming more and more important because we all feel more the impacts at home”. Rafal Tratowski, Mayor of Warsaw and Chair of the CoR’s environment commission, reiterated that it is the local authorities that “implement measures and are in the front line of dealing with difficulties”. He also called for “direct funding” for ambitious regions suffering from “irresponsible governments” blocking recovery plans.
Relaunch of the Cohesion Alliance
In addition, the plenary session discussed the re-launch of the Cohesion Alliance, first launched in 2017 and made up of local authorities and the CoR. In a joint declaration published on Wednesday 12 October, they commit to “work together to develop joint proposals to reinforce Cohesion Policy and to make it fit for the challenges of the post-2027 period”.
Among other things, the partners call for a simplification of cohesion policy, both by avoiding the multiplication of funds and by facilitating implementation, and not to sacrifice its long-term objectives in times of crisis. They also want to promote the importance of cohesion policy to local and regional communities across Europe. “We cannot fall into the trap of preaching only to the converted”, added Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the CoR.
The European Commissioner for Cohesion Policy, Elisa Ferreira, welcomed the initiative: “We need you now and in the coming years, especially on the post 2027 reforms. The Alliance should remain a permanent feature with regular meetings and advocate for cohesion as a pillar principle of the EU”.
Need for structural reforms
Finally, the representatives discussed the results of the Conference on the Future of Europe, in the presence of the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica. “Local and regional authorities are crucial, [as] they are in a unique position of building bridges between citizens and the EU, notably through the CoR. […] It’s vital that we build on our joint efforts, and in this respect, we have proposed the ‘Building Europe with Local Councillors’ project” to better communicate and engage citizens with European projects, she said.
For their part, the MEPs deplored the lack of a follow-up mechanism to the conclusions of the Conference and called for structural reforms of the Union. “Let’s give legislative power to the CoR in the fields of territorial cohesion, climate and citizenship”, added Christophe Bouillon (PES, French), echoing the CoR report on the situation of cities and regions (see EUROPE 13040/8). “Furthermore, as has been the case for the implementation of cohesion policy for the past thirty years, the democratic requirement of partnership between the local, regional, national and European levels of governance must be applied to all EU policies”.
The Commissioner promised a follow-up event with citizens, Parliament and EU Council by the end of the year and recalled that for structural reforms such as the revision of the Treaties, all institutions must agree. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)