The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has expressed its “deepest concern” over reported plans to dismantle or weaken the Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG REGIO) within the European Commission.
In a letter sent on Tuesday 19 May to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the CoR Conference of Presidents calls for “a fully-fledged DG REGIO (...) with a clear political mandate (...) and the institutional capacity necessary”.
According to the CoR, cohesion policy is not merely a political priority, but an obligation stemming from the Treaties. “The CoR needs a strong, recognisable institutional partner in the European Commission to ensure that the territorial dimension remains at the heart of EU decision-making”, underscore the signatories, among them the President of the CoR, Kata Tüttő, and the First Vice-President, Juanma Moreno.
The CoR believes that any weakening or dismantling of DG REGIO would send a negative political signal, contradicting the principle that no region or community should be left behind.
The CoR considers that any reorganisation of the Commission should not pre-empt the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council regarding the structure of policies within the 2027-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The Commission is reportedly preparing a reorganisation of its directorates-general, particularly those managing European funds (regions, agriculture, research, etc.), in order to put in place centralised expenditure management.
The creation of a ‘DG INVEST’, tasked with overseeing all European funds, is reportedly being considered.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/lz5 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)