EU annual regional and local barometer outlines widening disparities across the EU in pandemic aftermath

The need to engage all levels of government in the implementation of the RRF, to address disparities in health and to enable the green and digital transition were the key points raised by EPP-CoR members during a debate on the 2021 EU annual regional and local barometer.

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, President of the European Committee of the Regions said that the barometer shows disparities in health. While cities may provide more health care, rural areas have faced difficulties. "We must reassess the health competences across the EU. LRAs hold legal responsibilities of health so the Health Union needs to fully engage LRAs." With respect to the EU Green Deal, the CoR President said "Since we deliver 70% of climate change measures and 90% of adaptation measures we call on national governments and the EU to ensure the local and regional dimension is included in COP26 conclusions."

Speaking on behalf of the EPP-CoR Group, Michael Murphy, Mayor of Clonmel Borough and ECON Chair said that the Barometer shows that there has been an inadequate involvement of all levels of government in the making of the Recovery and Resilience Plans and appealed for such shortcomings to be corrected in the RRF implementation phase.

Turning to EU-UK relations, Murphy who is the CoR Rapporteur on Strengthening the EU-UK Relationship at subnational level and remedying the territorial impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU said that locally and regionally elected leaders, see the impact of Brexit locally. "These may not be big-ticket or 'high-politics' items but they are what citizens feel on a day to day level!" He called for a structured dialogue with LRAs ahead of the EU UK Joint Partnership Council meetings, to fill the gap of a permanent structure of exchange between LRAs and the governance of the EU-UK Agreement.

Markku Markkula, President of the Helsinki Region said that the future of citizen cities can and will be digital societies based on open, innovative collaboration, and competitive, sustainable growth businesses. He stressed the importance of new European Missions. "All five Missions play a crucial role on this transformation, especially the Mission Climate Neutral and Smart Cities. We local and regional authorities need to take a strong role in implementing the Missions. The next years are our opportunity to co-create and co-invent the welfare future for the European citizens."

 

Resolution on the annual local and regional barometer

Members also adopted a resolution. The latter points out that the impact of the pandemic across the EU has been uneven with border regions and urban areas proved more vulnerable. It insists that regional health systems are the cornerstone of the EU resilience and must be part of the future health preparedness and response.

With respect to economic recovery, the resolution calls for recovery measures to be extended until 2024 so as to enable cities and regions to make the most of 'Next Generation EU' and focus on long-term investments. It reaffirms the need to involve LRAs in the evaluation and the implementation of the RRF and more specifically of its main operational tools – National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs).

The resolution reiterates that efficient climate and environmental action need multi-level governance and calls on the Commission and Member States to fully integrate the sub-national level within the European Green Deal policies.

With respect to democracy, the resolution recalls that almost two thirds of local politicians (64%) feel that there is not enough influence of regions, cities and villages on EU policy-making and highlights that strengthening the involvement of the million EU politicians elected at regional and local level will make democracy in the EU work better.

 

Findings of the Annual Regional and Local Barometer:

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