European Union News - Regional Policy

The responsibility of Member States and beneficiaries with regard to the European regional policy communication and transparency have been some of the points that were highlighted during the workshop "Communicating regional policy today and after 2013" held at the Open Days in Brussels.

The workshop on the Euroregions organised in the Open Days 2011 framework shows a model of cooperation for European territories. The Euroregion Pyrenees-Mediterranean was showed during the event as an example of this model for cooperation.

Mercedes Bresso, CoR President, stressed the need of not leaving rural areas behind by the EU. According to Ms Bresso, reform proposals for EU regional policy and agriculture are a step in the right direction to close these development gaps. She made this statement at the congress organised by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Union of Rural Communes of the Republic of Poland within the framework of the Polish Council presidency.

According to a special report published by the European Court of Auditors which examines the results of e-Government projects funded under the European Development Fund (ERDF) in four Member States, despite the projects are in fact already operational, the results obtained are much lower than expected. In light of this study, the Court makes some recommendations in order to improve the results in future projects.

The Committee of the Regions opens the application time for its 5th Summit of Europe's Regions and Cities. Regional and local authorities, associations and other organisations are invited to apply for participation in this exhibition by sending projects before 7 November. The Summit of Europe's Regions and Cities will take place on 22 and 23 March 2012 in Copenhagen (Denmark).

The Committee of the Regions welcomed EU plans for more competitive and greener industry. European Commission Vice-President responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, underlined at the CoR plenary session, the key role of regional and local authorities in this process. He urged for a new industrial policy in a broader – and truly integrated – sense, to keep improving EU competitiveness.

The European Commission presented on October 12 a proposal to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which endorses a new partnership between Europe and its farmers. The project aims at making European agriculture more competitive, ensuring sustainable production, high food quality and promoting environmental conservation and revitalization of rural areas.

At the celebration of the 9th edition of the Open Days, Mercedes Bresso, President of the Committee of the Regions defended the creation of a provisional intermediate category, which will be "intermediate" regions i.e. with a GDP of between 75% and 90% of the EU average, as it was proposed by the Commission.

Committee of the Regions (CoR) President Mercedes Bresso opposed Commission plans to suspend all EU regional development funds for countries that breach European deficit rules. Elisabeth Morin-Chartier, responsible for the cohesion policy report at the European Parliament, expressed her concerns about a possible link between the allocation of funds to social projects and the respect for budget discipline required by the stability and growth pact.

The European Commission adopted a legislative package for cohesion policy for the period from 2014 until 2020 which is designed to boost growth and jobs across Europe by targeting EU investment on Europe's Growth and Jobs Agenda ("Europe 2020"). With this package, Commission lays foundations to boost impact of cohesion investments after 2013.

According to the President of the Committee of the Regions, Mercedes Bresso, EU Eastern Partnership needs local and regional dimension. Ms Bresso presented at the Eastern Partnership summit, the recommendations from a recently launched dialogue with mayors and regional presidents from the neighbouring countries.