President Tüttő and national ministers jointly oppose any centralisation of Cohesion Policy after 2027

The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) Kata Tüttő joined national ministers in charge of Cohesion Policy for the General Affairs Council meeting, on 28 March. It is the first time that a CoR President is invited to take the floor during the official discussions among ministers within the Council meeting.

“In times of growing uncertainty, we need to strengthen the European Union both externally and internally. Cohesion Policy is a long-term stabilising tool that we need in this context. It is too often treated as an economic instrument, when in reality it is already a security policy. It provides the scaffolding that prevents societal collapse, ensuring that regions remain strong and adaptive in the face of turbulence. 

Flexibility is not the magic wand that will solve all of Europe’s woes: Cohesion Policy cannot become the ambulance for those who lose out in the race for competitiveness. The solution is not shifting funds around. If you just divert blood from the brain to the arms, you will get nowhere. Cohesion Policy is the long-term glue that holds the EU together, transforming it into a kind of rapid glue for short-term fixes will come at a price. It risks weakening the very foundations that give Europe its resilience. This is why new resources are needed in the future EU long-term budget, to support a clear objective of making Europe more cohesive. 

We oppose any thimblerig, which would eventually lead to a renationalisation of competitiveness policies. At the same time, we want to create winners, but we do not want to create losers in the process. To avoid this, regions and cities must be fully involved in the management of the future Cohesion Policy, because they are the ones closest to the citizens’ needs. That is why we should not accept any reform of the policy which would lead to further centralisation at national level, under the disguise of ‘simplification’," said President Tüttő addressing the European ministers.

The crucial role of local and regional administration for an effective Cohesion Policy was underlined in the conclusions adopted during today’s meeting. The Council “stressed that shared management must remain the delivery method of Cohesion Policy” and “called on the European Commission to ensure that Cohesion Policy governance model continues to respect the existing division of competences and coordination systems among different levels of government in each Member State and the role of regional and local authorities in policy design, programming, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.”

More information

• The discussion among EU ministers took place ahead of the publication of the Mid-term review of Cohesion Policy programmes 2021-27 by the European Commission, which represents an important step towards the reform of the policy after 2027. 
• During the plenary session on 20-21 November, the European Committee of the Regions adopted a package of opinions defining the building blocks of Cohesion Policy after 2027. Press release.
• Cohesion Policy worth nearly € 370 billion of EU funds in the current programming period 2021-2027, or one third of the EU long-term budget.