EPP-CoR coronavirus response Task Force discussed the importance of the involvement of regions, cities and towns in the design, management and implementation of the National RRF plans with Siegfried Muresan MEP, Vice-President of the EPP and Vice-Chair of the EPP-EP Group.
In his opening remarks, Olgierd Geblewicz, President of West Pomerania Region and President of the EPP-CoR Group said that "as EPP regional and local politicians we are responsible and committed to ensure all levels of government work together to beat the virus and get our economy back on track. Local and rural areas have been gravely affected by the pandemic and they need urgent support." President Geblewicz provided feedback from his experience on the ground with the elaboration of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Siegfried Mureșan MEP, Vice-President of the EPP, Vice-Chair of the EPP-EP Group, highlighted that: "the EPP has succeeded during the negotiations on the Recovery and Resilience Facility to ensure that EU governments will consult with local and regional authorities, as well as civil society in general so they could deliver ambitious, modern and sustainable national recovery plans. The EPP Group in the European Parliament is now ready to make full use of our rights to assess the national plans so that local and regional authorities fully benefit from investments and reforms as specified by the Recovery and Resilience Facility."
Birgitta Sacrédeus, member of Dalarna Regional Council spoke about the importance having a dialogue between all levels of government: "Dialogue between all levels of government is crucial in order to make sure that we use the Recovery and Resilience Facility in the most efficient way. She welcomed Mr. Muresan's commitment to there being due flexibility in the RRF's implementation something the EPP fought hard for in negotiations. Only with multilevel governance, we can solve all the problems of our society."
Gaetano Armao, Vice-President of the Sicily Region spoke about how the region of Sicily suffered most in the industry and tourism sector during this pandemic. "My region was hit hard in the tourism sector. We are discussing with the Italian government on the Recovery and Resilience Facility plan in order to make sure that our industry and tourism will recover fast after this pandemic."
Michael Murphy, member of Tipperary County Council and ECON commission Chair explained that in order to have a good economic recovery, we must think about helping SME's and family owned businesses. "All EPP leaders want to make sure that the Recovery and Resilience Facility will have the wanted impact in all our regions and cities. This is achieved through a mix of precision and timely policies. The pandemic has challenged my region and it is really important for the RFF to support the economic recovery, family owned businesses and SME's in the context of a perfect storm arising from the effects of Brexit and the ongoing pandemic."
Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and former Prime Minister of Romania spoke about the success of the vaccination campaign in the city of Cluj-Napoca and how the vaccination is directly linked to the reopening of our economies: "We need to have a good communication campaign regarding the vaccination of our citizens in order to be able to put our economies back on track. In my city Cluj-Napoca already 40% of the population is vaccinated and we will be able to reopen soon our economies and cultural life if we proceed like this. If we protect our health, we protect our economies." Mr. Boc also welcome the proposed flexibility built into the RRF and emphasized the need for effective synergies between different funding programmes.
Finally, Siegfried Muresan invited EPP-CoR members to report back to Scrutiny WG in order to asses the National RRF plans from regional and local perspective.