Press release

Future of Cohesion Policy: Don’t let regions and cities be silenced!

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  • Cohesion Policy
  • Cohesion Fund
  • European territorial cooperation
  • European Regional Development Fund
  • Multiannual financial framework
  • Territorial cohesion
  • EU Cohesion Policy funds
  • European Social Fund
  • Cohesion policy reform
The #CohesionAlliance public action
© European Union / Denis Closon

The #CohesionAlliance calls on EU institutions to give regions, cities and municipalities full partnership rights in the future Cohesion Policy after 2027, and to oppose its nationalisation and centralisation.

Elected representatives of regions, cities and municipalities from all over Europe – members of the #CohesionAlliance – gathered in Brussels on 15 October to urge the European Parliament and Member States to revise the reform of Cohesion Policy as outlined in the EU long-term budget 2028-34 proposal put forward by the European Commission.

After a symbolic call for action in front of the European Parliament, joined by the representatives of the main European territorial associations, members of the European Committee of the Regions and of the European Parliament, #CohesionAlliance partners adopted a seven-point call that defines the actual proposal as inadequate.

Bundling Cohesion Policy together with other policies to support agriculture, defence, or migration means that local and regional authorities would compete for financial support at the national level, against farmers, fishermen, law-enforcement forces and many others. Moreover, by transferring the centre of gravity of decision-making from regions to capitals, the proposal marks a seismic shift in the role played by Cohesion Policy as a linchpin instrument for supporting long-term EU policy objectives and investments at the territorial level.

That is why the #CohesionAlliance calls for a place-based approach, where local and regional governments are in the driving seat of local or regional economic, social and territorial development.

Read the full text of the call. 

Leading European associations of cities and regions, together with the European Committee of the Regions, are the founding partners of the #CohesionAlliance, the EU-widest coalition of representatives of cities and regions, social partners and civic society associations advocating for cohesion as a key objective for all EU policies and investments, and for a strengthened Cohesion Policy after 2027.

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