The Vice-President of the European Commission for Demography, Dubravka Šuica, will present her communication on ‘Harnessing talent in Europe’s regions’ (see EUROPE 13101/15) to the 154th plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).
While the elected representatives will not formally vote until the following day, in a draft resolution tabled by all the political groups on this subject, the Committee “welcomes” the Commission’s proposal. However, it calls on the Commission to “step up its efforts to reduce regional disparities with the support of place-based policies” and a strengthened cohesion policy while promoting partnerships between territories.
Place-based policies
The CoR therefore calls for the diversity of regions in or at risk of falling into a ‘talent development trap’ (i.e. a lack of workers meaning that the region’s economy stagnates and finds it increasingly hard to attract talent) to be taken into account in developing tailored strategies. It mentions, for example, the administrative and legal obstacles specific to border regions within the EU.
It therefore recommends that local authorities build local alliances involving all stakeholders (government, business, academia, NGOs, etc.) to participate in the design and implementation of local policies that contribute to mitigating the brain drain. It also encourages them to run information campaigns to promote life outside the cities, as well as the attractions of their region.
Talent booster mechanism
The CoR is also satisfied with the talent booster mechanism and encourages its rapid implementation. In this respect, it believes that regions particularly affected by the ecological and digital transitions, “such as coal and carbon-intensive regions as well as automotive regions”, are “prime candidates” to benefit from it. Indeed, these regions will have a large number of workers in need of retraining, the text points out.
It also proposes maintaining the Just Transition Fund (JTF) while developing a ‘2.0’ version based on the lessons learned from implementing the ‘Territorial Just Transition Plans’.
Focus on rural areas
The resolution also focuses on isolated or outermost and rural areas, which are particularly affected by the brain drain. It calls for targeted measures, for example, to encourage the participation of women or to mobilise the opportunities offered by smart villages to diversify the rural economy.
The CoR also calls for territorial impact assessments and the rural test mechanism to become effective tools for implementing the ‘do no harm’ principle introduced in the eighth Cohesion Report (see EUROPE 12887/2).
Finally, the CoR emphasises the importance of bridging the digital divide as well as facilitating the integration of third-country nationals. It calls on the Commission to take account of the recommendations on demographic change made at the Conference on the Future of Europe.
To read the draft resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/5rj (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)