Mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
"In order to have the right financial means to promote cohesion, the European Union should be given an adequate budget that is also able to offer a sufficient response to current and future crisis." said Thomas Habermann during today's COTER Commission.
The request is included in the draft opinion on the Mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the EU, adopted by COTER members. Local and regional leaders call for the overall MFF to contribute to cohesion in Europe through a balanced distribution of resources and, although there must be a degree of flexibility, not using cohesion funds to respond directly to crises, as has been done in recent months and years, but to create a dedicated crisis response reserve to do it. There is a need for a crisis-proof, protected budget item that allows for predictable and long-term investments for managing authorities and beneficiaries of funding, the draft opinion argues.
The rapporteur Thomas Habermann (DE/EPP), District Commissioner of Rhön-Grabfeld, said: "The MFF has indirect and sometimes even direct effects on local and regional authorities. A large part of the European funds is used with the aim of directly supporting development in our municipalities and regions in terms of economic, social and territorial cohesion. The budgetary situation in many municipalities and regions is worrying, which makes it much more difficult to invest in climate and environmental protection measures or in digitalization. We must therefore ensure that European funds continue to support local and regional authorities in addressing the challenges on the ground."
A just and sustainable transition for Automotive Regions
During the meeting, COTER members also discussed on the draft opinion “A Just and Sustainable Transition for Automotive Regions”, from rapporteur Sven Schulze (DE/EPP), Minister for Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt. The opinion aims to contribute to the transition process that is ongoing in European automotive regions and to develop strategies on how these regional processes can be supported through a multi-level dialogue and EU cohesion policy funds. An integrated regional value chain in automotive production is fundamental for new networks and cooperations that benefit the regional economic structure. Cooperation between industry, SMEs and local and regional authorities is essential for regions to keep pace with new technological developments in the field of electric mobility and autonomous driving. COTER members made clear that different regions face different challenges when it comes to the transition in the automotive sector and stressed that there needs to be sufficient financial support from the EU level, in particular through the Just Transition Fund.
Rapporteur, Sven Schulze highlighted that: "We need a mechanism at European level for a just transition of the automotive regions. By the end of 2025, the European Commission must present a proposal on what this could look like. However, this should not only affect structural policy measures, it must also promote and maintain the competitiveness of strong automotive regions. Innovative and strong regions must be supported as well as structurally weak regions. I think it's not too late for the European automotive industry to remain globally competitive through this necessary transformation. But it has to start now and it has to get everyone on board from the start."
Background:
In order to advocate cohesion as a fundamental value of the EU and plead for a strong Cohesion Policy beyond 2027, the CoR and the leading European associations of regions and cities founded the #CohesionAlliance. On 16 March, the Alliance kicked off the reflection process on the future of cohesion policy launching two new calls for contributions:
• a broad consultation to receive feedback on the future role and design of cohesion policy;
• a call for Cohesion Local Stories to showcasing how cohesion policy has a unique role to support cities' and regions' development.
To stay up to date with all the activities of the #CohesionAlliance and the latest development on cohesion policy, you can sign up to receive the new #CohesionAlliance newsletter here.
A just and fair transition towards decarbonising the transport sector is the primary concern of the Automotive Regions Alliance, a political network of regions committed to the successful transition of the European automotive and supply industry. The Alliance was founded by the CoR and aims to bring together regions that have a strong automotive and supply industry.
With the adoption of the internal combustion phase-out by 2035, the Alliance has a key role to play: the European Commission is mandated to report by the end of 2025 on what budgetary resources are needed to make this transition fair for all. The legislators commit the European Commission to base its report on the work of the Automotive Regions Alliance.