On Thursday 15 May, EU local and regional leaders adopted a resolution setting out their priorities for the EU’s next multiannual financial framework (MFF) covering the period 2028-2034 (see EUROPE 13635/1, 13634/16).
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is calling for urgent priorities such as security and climate resilience to be addressed, while tackling persistent challenges such as strengthening social, economic and territorial cohesion. CoR members are calling for a more flexible EU budget in the future, including the creation of a larger emergency fund to deal with crises and unforeseen situations.
The CoR urges the Member States to reach rapid agreement on the introduction of new sources of funding for the EU budget (own resources).
With regard to the mid-term review of cohesion policy, local and regional leaders are opposed to any centralisation measures, whether direct or indirect, within the framework of cohesion policy, both for the current 2021-2027 programming period and for the next. Changes to operational programmes must remain voluntary, the CoR insists. CoR members believe that cohesion policy must remain an essential pillar of the EU’s growth model and the main long-term decentralised investment policy for all regions in the post-2027 MFF, with a financial allocation at least equivalent in real terms to that of the current MFF.
In adopting its opinion on the modernisation of cohesion policy after 2027 on Wednesday 14 May, the CoR expressed its deep concern at the European Commission’s proposal that each Member State should have a single national plan for EU investment. This opinion, drafted by Isabelle Boudineau (PES, French) at the request of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, will be presented next week in Warsaw. Ms Boudineau, accompanied by CoR President Kata Tüttő, will take part in the informal meeting of European ministers responsible for cohesion policy to explain the content of the opinion adopted.
The CoR proposes that the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process be integrated into a multi-annual strategic approach, with the active participation (and not just consultation) of local and regional authorities in the drafting of country reports and specific recommendations. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)