On Wednesday, 10 July, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a resolution rejecting the idea of converting cohesion policy into a mechanism similar to the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ (RRF).
The EESC thus believes—as does the European Committee of the Regions (CoR)—that cohesion policy should not become a crisis management tool (see EUROPE 13433/15).
The EESC points out that the RRF ought to be aligned with future cohesion policy, which is based on a bottom-up approach and robust regional governance. Calling for sufficient funding under an ambitious multiannual financial framework, the EESC also insists that cohesion policy must continue to be part of a specific commissioner’s portfolio.
“We want to be very clear and call on the Commission and the Parliament not to give in to pressure”, insisted EESC President Oliver Röpke in reference to ideas aiming to radically reform cohesion policy.
The EESC would like civil society to be involved in the next Common Provisions Regulation (CPR), which governs how the Cohesion Fund as well as other EU funding are used after 2027.
Link to the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/d0c (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)