Currently, worth one-third of the EU budget, the EU’s cohesion policy reduces regional disparities, creates jobs, opens new business opportunities and addresses major global issues such as climate change and migration. EU cohesion policy has enabled many regions to make investments in strategic sectors for them, in line with the smart specialization strategy. When it comes to investing in innovation, it is commonly understood that in Europe, the interactions between innovation and development follows a place-based logic. It is even more so the case when it comes to stimulating the downstream market in the space sector, in response to territorial management needs.
For this reason, NEREUS strongly supports the #CohesionAlliance, a coalition of those who believe that EU cohesion policy must continue to be a pillar of the EU’s future. The Alliance was created through cooperation between the leading European associations of cities and regions and the European Committee of the Regions. It demands that the EU budget after 2020 makes cohesion policy stronger, more effective, visible and available for every region in the European Union.
As #CohesionAlliance we declare that cohesion policy…
- works as a long-term investment policy for all regions in Europe to support growth and jobs at local
and regional level by promoting innovative solutions for issues such as climate change and energy
transition, social inclusion, as well as for cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation; - is needed more than ever as an expression of European solidarity to overcome the economic, social
and territorial divide by providing every citizen, wherever they live in Europe, with a tangible opportunity
to experience the advantages of our European Union; - must be better communicated as the EU policy closest to the citizen, having a direct impact on their daily
lives; - must continue to be an effective policy with sufficient resources of at least one-third of the future EU
budget to be delivered via grants and, where appropriate, via financial instruments; - must be based on the existing European Structural and Investment Funds with a common set of
provisions; - requires the strengthening of the partnership principle and the place-based approach by reinforcing
the key role of local and regional authorities in delivering the policy by actively engaging urban and rural
communities and promoting tools to trigger and support local development through integrated strategies; - must be better coordinated with other EU policies on a level playing field by taking into account the
specificities of municipalities, cities and regions in the European Union; - must not be subject to conditionalities at European level that cannot be influenced by local and regional
authorities and other beneficiaries; - must be simplified and improved, based on increased trust between the levels of the government
implementing the funds and a more flexible and differentiated approach.
Do you support the Cohesion Policy? Have your say in the public consultation launched by the European Commission
(Deadline: 8th March 2018)
