The future of EU cohesion policy is, of course, among the priorities of the Polish presidency of the EU Council: on 28 March, the General Affairs Council could adopt conclusions on this policy’s future and discuss post-2027 cohesion policy, according to the Polish presidency’s programme and the draft agenda of the Councils during the first half of 2025.
For Poland, one of the countries known as a ‘friend of cohesion’, this policy is “the best tool for addressing development disparities, tackling inequalities and improving resilience to shocks”. Furthermore, Warsaw points out that cohesion policy contributes to the proper functioning of the single market and helps reap the benefits of European integration.
Poland indicates that the discussions of the European ministers responsible for cohesion policy will be based on the contents of three major reports published in 2024, “[which] confirm in their conclusions the effectiveness of cohesion policy in supporting regional development”: the report of the high-level group of experts on the future of cohesion policy, the 8th report on cohesion and Enrico Letta’s report entitled ‘Much more than a market’.
The EU Council’s conclusions will constitute the Member States’ “input” to help the European Commission prepare the package of regulations on future cohesion policy, which forms part of the forthcoming proposals on the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
During this six-month period, Poland is also planning activities on strengthening the urban dimension of European policies and on territorial cohesion and the territorial dimension of policies. These activities will take place in the context of the EU Urban Agenda and the review of the EU 2030 Territorial Agenda.
European Commission Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto recently called for a “strengthened and modernised” cohesion policy for the post-2027 period (see EUROPE 13544/7).
Link to draft agendas: https://aeur.eu/f/exk
Link to priorities: https://aeur.eu/f/ewk (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)