Regions and cities believe that Cohesion Policy should remain the EU's main investment tool to reduce regional disparities and help address the green, digital and demographic transitions, based on the strengths identified by each territory. Members of the CoR's Commission for Territorial Policy and EU budget (COTER), who met in Oulu in Northern Finland, adopted on 17 September several key opinions calling to guarantee the future of the EU Cohesion Policy in the next multiannual budget post-2027 and to simplify the management of the funds at local level.
The recommendations on the reform of cohesion policy have been drafted by the CoR President Vasco Alves Cordeiro and the COTER chair Emil Boc (RO/EPP), Mayor of Cluj-Napoca. The draft opinion adopted unanimously by the COTER commission sends a strong message to the European Commission and especially the commissioner-designate for Regional Policy Raffaele Fitto, stressing that the Cohesion Policy must remain managed bottom-up and built on the strengths of each region.
"Cohesion Policy is not a sprint, it's a marathon of support and a matter of necessity, if our aim is to have a stronger and united Europe. The single market can't work without cohesion policy, which is crucial to raising Europe's competitiveness and using full potential of the EU's entire territory. Otherwise, divisions and dissatisfaction across Europe will grow. We are also against any kind of centralisation, but not against reforms: Cohesion Policy must be modernised and simplified to increase flexibility and reduce red tape at local level," Mr Boc said.
"Cohesion Policy is about Europe as Europe is about cohesion. It must be reinforced and renewed, so that it can be in the future a key instrument for all regions to take advantage of the single market and make the EU more competitive", President Cordeiro said in his online intervention.
Members were invited to Oulu by Mirja Vehkaperä, Chair of Oulu City Board, who highlighted the role of cohesion funds in support of the regional development in Finland's northern, sparsely populated regions. These best practices were presented to the members during a conference on Wednesday. In his keynote speech, the Finnish Minister for Economy Wille Rydman underlined the need to better consider the challenges of EU regions bordering Russia that are suffering from the current geopolitical situation.