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No time for business as usual: Europe must begin in its regions and cities
Better EU regulation, better spending and refugee integration are local priorities that need local decisions
The European Commission must strengthen its partnership with local and regional authorities and consider the local impact of EU policy to make Europe work. Reacting to the Commission's 2016 plans, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) also stressed that delivering jobs, creating better EU regulation and resolving the refugee crisis were shared priorities that clearly needed to be shaped by local and regional authorities.
This message came during a lively debate between CoR members and Commission's First Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, who presented the 2016 Working Programme and stated that EU regions and cities should be the driving forces for 'Better Regulation', "What we need today is not more regulation, but a better and a more comprehensive one that engages all levels of governance," he said. He further acknowledged the positive role local and regional authorities already play within the EU. "I believe that better inter-institutional coordination will benefit all European citizens."
The President of the CoR, Markku Markkula, stressed that the CoR shares many priorities with the Commission, such as building a connected and a cohesive Europe. "As the Committee of the Regions, we encourage an entrepreneurial spirit that makes investment work for communities. For this, the EU must facilitate the strengthening of partnership policies for its regions and cities. We need better regulation that reflects the territorial dimension and we ask the simplification of the use of European funds to boost local economies," President Markkula remarked.
The CoR's First Vice-President, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, added that the Commission must also now fully associate cities and regions in the process of Territorial Impact Assessments.
In its resolution adopted during the Plenary, the CoR considers that the growth of cities and its relationship with rural areas must be a central plank of EU policy in the coming years. The CoR members pointed towards the lack of reference to the EU's Urban Agenda in the Working Programme – a priority of the Dutch EU Presidency next year. It further calls on the Commission to build on the work done by Luxembourg’s EU Presidency by actively involving the CoR in the Cross-border Convention to improve collaboration across regions.
The CoR also rejects any notion of curtailing the freedom of movement and stresses the importance of solidarity and responsibility in the European response to migration. As local and regional governments are on the frontline in supporting refugees it calls on the Commission to improve the speed and accessibility of funding for local and regional governments.
Contact:
Branislav Stanicek
Tel. 0473 843 983
branislav.stanicek@cor.europa.eu
