Europe needs a revised Cohesion Policy with a budget for the post-2027 period that is “at least equivalent” to the one for the current EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) period for 2021-2027, according to the draft opinion adopted unanimously on Tuesday 26 September by the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).
The draft opinion on the future of the Cohesion Policy was prepared by CoR President Vasco Alves Cordeiro (PES, Portuguese) and COTER Commission President Emil Boc (EPP, Romanian).
In this draft opinion, which is due to be voted on at the CoR’s plenary session on 29 and 30 November, the CoR stresses that “the overall Cohesion Policy budget for post-2027 should be at least equivalent to the one for 2021-2027 (including the REACT-EU top-up ) in real terms”, while funds under the European territorial cooperation component “should be increased”, compared to the appropriations for the current programming period, and account for “no less than 8% of the total amount, given the need to boost cross-border cooperation after the slowdown linked to the Covid-19 restrictions and Russian aggression against Ukraine”, according to an amendment tabled by the rapporteurs and adopted by the COTER Commission.
Cities and regions are calling for a reformed Cohesion Policy that tackles new inequalities and is simpler and firmly rooted in the EU’s territories.
The current macroeconomic conditionality should be eliminated and a new emergency mechanism for using funds should be created to give local administrators the flexibility to deal with unexpected crises.
Other requests included in the draft opinion include: - all European regions should remain eligible for funding under this policy in the future; - the shared management model, multi-level governance and the partnership principle should remain the guiding principles of Cohesion Policy after 2027; - the territorial cohesion objective must be binding for all other European policies; - the overall funding architecture should be simplified due to multiple funds directly or indirectly intended for cohesion.
On 29 September, President Cordeiro will present the CoR’s suggestions to the EU ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy, who will meet in Murcia (Spain) for an informal meeting convened by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
On 22 June in Sibiu, the EU’s regions and cities began discussing the future of the Cohesion Policy (see EUROPE 13208/12).
The ‘Group of high-level specialists on the future of Cohesion Policy’, set up by the European Commission in January 2023, will make recommendations “by the beginning of 2024”, said the European Commissioner for Cohesion Policy, Elisa Ferreira, on 21 September. The 9th Cohesion Report, to be published by the European Commission in spring 2024, “will put forward ideas for potential policy reforms after 2027”, said the Commissioner. The report and wider discussions will be the subject of the ‘Cohesion Forum’ due to be held in Brussels on 11 and 12 April 2024. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)