The European Union needs a cohesion policy with adequate funding and decentralised planning, rooted in the needs of each territory, said MEPs when they adopted the report by Jacek Protas (EPP, Polish) on Thursday 8 May (392 votes in favour, 125 against and 55 abstentions).
In response to the European Commission’s 9th Cohesion Report, the European Parliament opposes “any form of top-down, centralising reform of EU funding programmes, including those under shared management, such as cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy, and calls for greater decentralisation of decision-making to the local and regional level”. MEPs are convinced that cohesion policy can only continue to play its role “if it has solid funding”. Future cohesion policy will therefore need “solid funding for the post-2027 financial period” (see EUROPE 13634/16).
The European Parliament considers that cohesion policy is not an instrument for responding to crises, and that it is necessary to increase appropriations, in particular for the EU Solidarity Fund. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)