The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has proposed that the European Commission increases by €1 billion more the level of investment for a new Fund dedicated to supporting citizens most in need. Additionally, the CoR rejected the Commission's proposals to allow member states to voluntarily participate in co-financing schemes that use the Fund, arguing that this could take away local and regional authorities' access to vitally needed investment.

An opinion adopted by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in plenary session argued that the level of investment for a new Fund dedicated to supporting citizens most in need is insufficient. The European Commission has proposed ring-fencing €2.5 billion from the total EU cohesion budget to provide non-financial assistance to the most deprived in Europe; however, the CoR holds that an additional €1 billion is needed. The Commission proposed to create this Fund to help the most deprived persons in the EU in October 2012.

The EU's cities and regions also argued that to make the most effective use of resources it was crucial to take a coordinated approach to protecting Europe's most vulnerable by involving Member State and regional authorities. The CoR therefore rejected the Commission's proposals to allow member states to voluntarily participate in co-financing schemes that use the Fund, arguing that this could take away local and regional authorities' access to vitally needed investment. The CoR instead suggested that the EU should only offer up to 85% of funds with the remainder being committed by national governments.

The Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived set out by the Commission seeks to help deliver the EU's objective of reducing by at least 20 million the number of people in or at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2020. The Fund succeeds the current EU food aid programme which makes agricultural surpluses available as food aid, but expands the scope to include other essential goods, such as clothing.