On Tuesday 18 November, the EUregions4cohesion coalition, representing 140 regions, judged the European Commission’s proposed adjustments to the 2028-2034 'national and regional partnership plans' proposal to be insufficient (see other news).
According to these regions, cohesion policy “cannot be designed and managed exclusively by central national governments, with regional and territorial chapters remaining an option at the discretion of Member States”.
Unable to accept the regional verification proposed by the Commission, the coalition is calling for the establishment of “regional partnership plans” negotiated directly with the Commission and for the regions to be given managing authority status for the various funds.
The coalition is advocating a “separate” cohesion policy budget, with provisional allocations for each region. Furthermore, the proposed safety net “does not meet this demand, and the continuation of a cohesion policy for all regions remains uncertain”, according to these regions, which believe that, to be effective, the safety net should be mandatory and set at a level significantly lower than the proposed 25%. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)