MEP Lopez- Isturiz joins EPP-CoR Spanish mayors and presidents of the provincial councils calling for transparency
EPP-CoR mayors and presidents of the provincial councils today met the European Commission, MEPs and with the President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) calling for distribution of EU funds to be effective, efficient and transparent. Mayors and presidents of the provincial councils expressed disappointment that the socialist government was allocating funds in an unfair manner prioritising regions from the same political family of the government.
Antonio Lopez- Isturiz, MEP (EPP-EP Group) and Secretary General of the EPP said that local and regional authorities (LRAs) in Spain were experiencing financial difficulties due to the way in which the central government was distributing recovery funds. He added that mayors and presidents of the provincial councils had travelled to Brussels to discuss the situation on the ground and call for a fair and transparent mechanism in the distribution of funds.
Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida Navasqües, Mayor of Madrid said that recovery funds were important for the future of the country to recover from the social and economic impact of the crisis. He expressed disappointment on the absence of a control mechanism to ensure that distribution of funds was done fairly.
José Manuel Baltar Blanco, President of Provincial Council of Ourense said that municipalities with a small population were facing difficulty to tap funds. He said that Provinces had in the past been efficient with using EU funds and thus they want to help municipalities to benefit from existing opportunities. In this regard, meetings were held with the Commission to share projects that require support.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, President of the CoR and President of Central Macedonia (Greece) (EPP-CoR Group) welcomed that fact that 40% of Spain's recovery funds were committed to climate objectives and about 28% to digitalization. However, he expressed concern that the recovery plan was not taking into account territorial specificities of Spanish cities and regions. He advised against over-centralisation that neglects the specific needs and challenges on the ground. He said "Recovery plans must have broad ownership and recovery instruments must be implemented with full respect of the partnership principle, ensuring the involvement of cities, regions, civil society and stakeholders as full partners." Tzitzikostas stressed that the pandemic weakened the financial resources of LRAs due to falling revenues and rising expenditures. He promised mayors and presidents of provincial councils that this together with the failure of national governments to involve LRAs in the recovery and resilience plans will be raised at the Summit of Cities and Regions on 3 and 4 of March, which the CoR is co-organising during the French EU Presidency with the Region Provence Alpes Cotes D’Azur, and the main French local government associations.
The meeting was attended by a number of MEPs including Antonio Tajani (EPP-EP Group).