President Cordeiro urges President von der Leyen to clarify news about the future of Cohesion Policy

The president of the European Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, has written a letter to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to express the concerns felt within the political assembly representing Europe's local and regional authorities about future reforms of Cohesion Policy.

This letter reacts to recent news regarding a possible transformation of Cohesion Policy on the model of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which would lead to a centralisation of the funds, as the RRF lacks the principles of place-based approach, multi-level governance and partnership that are unique to Cohesion Policy.

In his letter, the president highlighted issues such as:

• Reducing Cohesion Policy to a simple instrument to serve limited priorities such as economic recovery or economic convergence;
  
• Eliminating the role of a Commissioner responsible for Cohesion Policy;
• Giving up on the social and territorial dimension of cohesion for the European project itself;
• Limiting Cohesion Policy funds only to developing regions.

The European Committee of the Regions was the first European institution to adopt its views on the future of Cohesion Policy post-2027, putting forward crucial requests to reshape a policy that represents one-third of the EU budget and should continue to be prioritised as a cornerstone of economic, social, and territorial development in all European territories.

On 18 June, the General Affairs Council will discuss the 9th Cohesion Report and the link between Cohesion Policy and the EU strategic agenda for 2024-2029.

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Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions, said: “A reform of C​​ohesion Policy that undermines and weakens its fundamental principles will have an impact on the Single Market, on the EU's social, economic and territorial cohesion, and, ultimately, on democracy and the European project as a whole. This is why, as regions and cities, we are raising our concerns and invite the European Commission to clarify its position."

More information:

• ​Text of the letter
  
• Text of the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions