On Wednesday 19 February, the President of the European Council, António Costa, took part in a debate at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) to highlight the key role of local and regional leaders in building a stronger, fairer and more resilient Europe by 2030.
Multilevel governance “is the foundation on which we can build a stronger, more prosperous Europe for everyone”, declared the President of the European Council. With regard to the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034, he said that the logic introduced in the ‘Next Generation EU’ (economic recovery plan) “is good for the future”: clear targets and timelines, and unlocking funds when objectives are reached. “And this is why we should look at the next EU budget with an open mind and consider cohesion and growth policy together”.
However, “this does not mean that programmes will have to be centralised: we must have clear, contractual commitments”, warned Mr Costa (this sentence was spoken to the CoR and does not appear in the text of the published speech: editor’s note).
Cohesion policy should contribute to competitiveness. And competitiveness should contribute to cohesion. In fact, we need to have cohesion as a common goal to all European policies, stressed the former Prime Minister of Portugal.
Mr Costa also said that investment in defence should not undermine cohesion. “We need cohesion in all policies, including defence”, he added.
Cities and regions are also best placed to tackle the housing crisis, by “ensuring that affordable housing is made available to all, especially the young generation”. This is how we make sure that our quest for competitiveness is a quest for shared prosperity, concluded the President of the European Council.
Link to Mr Costa’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/fl4 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)