The event was organised by the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union. It offers an opportunity to discuss the policy's scope and impact, and paves the way for the forthcoming discussion on the EU budget. The Commissioner will present initial results of its analysis of contributions to the public consultations on the future of Cohesion Policy. A Green Paper on territorial cohesion will be published in September 2008 by the EC services.

Some general conclusions from the event are:

• Respondents were overwhelmingly in favour of Cohesion Policy implemented at the European level and against any attempt at renationalising this policy.
• Many contributions from regional and local authorities invoke the principle of subsidiarity, and wish to play an increased role in the implementation of cohesion policy.
• National and regional authorities supported the principle of "earmarking", that is, Member States and regions investing cohesion policy resources in line with the Union's growth and jobs agenda.
• European cohesion policy is widely recognized as fostering competitiveness of all European regions, hence it should cover the whole territory of the European Union.
• Territorial cooperation is clearly recognised as an essential part of cohesion policy, and there is very strong demand across the Union for this objective to be developed in future.
• Demands to restore the rural development fund to the family of cohesion instruments also emerged in the consultation.