Social, economic and territorial cohesion should be promoted not only by Community policies but also by the European Union as a whole, and it must be financed by an adequate European budget: these are the requests made by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in two draft opinions adopted on Monday 24 April by the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER).
These draft opinions will be adopted by the CoR’s May plenary.
Cohesion policy must remain the main tool for a harmonious development of the Union for all regions and all EU policies should tackle the disparities among territories in line with the principle of ‘Do No Harm to Cohesion’, introduced in 2022 by the European Commission’s 8th Cohesion Report.
By unanimously adopting a draft opinion on ‘Do No Harm’, local and regional leaders called on the European Commission to ensure that no decision taken would undermine cohesion in Europe.
In order to have the right financial means to promote cohesion, the European Union should be given an adequate budget that is also able to offer a sufficient response to current and future crises, according to a draft opinion on the mid-term review of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), adopted by COTER.
Local and regional leaders call for the MFF to contribute to cohesion in Europe through a balanced distribution of resources. Regional and local leaders therefore call for a genuine revision of the MFF that takes into account the additional challenges and provides adequate resources to address them.
Rapporteur Thomas Habermann (EPP, German) said that the budgetary situation of many municipalities and regions is worrying. “We must therefore ensure that European funds continue to support local and regional authorities in addressing the challenges on the ground”, he concluded. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)