“The new EU budget (MFF) should direct more money to rural areas in a much simpler way. The approach to rural areas should be much more holistic than in the past, and they must have a strong position in every National and Regional Partnership Plan. Every EU policy after 2027 should set a required minimum for rural communities and support stronger, community-led projects tailored to each place.” These were the remarks of Radim Sršeň, Member of the Local Assembly of the Municipality of Dolní Studénky, during the Rural Pact Conference: “From Vision to Action – Empowering Rural Areas for the Future.”
Sršeň recalled the Committee of the Regions’ firm defence of a strong Cohesion Policy, which continues to rest on its so-called golden principles: shared management, multi-level governance, the partnership principle, and the place-based approach.
Speaking on the proposed EU budget, he highlighted issues the CoR will be examining in the coming months, including whether merging the Common Agricultural Policy, Cohesion Policy, and other funds linked to migration and home affairs will truly lead to simplification at all levels.
At the same time, Sršeň underlined that the European Committee of the Regions has a number of concerns with the Commission’s proposals for the future of Cohesion Policy. While acknowledging the intention to simplify, he noted that the current approach risks moving further away from the vision of a decentralised policy with regions at its core. Firstly, despite the name of the proposed European Fund for Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, the design appears closer to a single national programme, primarily linked to structural reforms, rather than one rooted in the diverse needs of local and regional communities. Secondly, while the introduction of National and Regional Partnership Plans is welcome in principle, the absence of robust, legally binding guarantees could weaken the role of regions and subnational authorities in shaping and implementing policy. Thirdly, Sršeň cautioned that limiting support only to less developed regions would mark a major departure from the principle of “leaving no region behind,” creating the risk that many territories would lose out on the benefits of Cohesion Policy.