In the occasion of the Round table organized by Commission for the territorial and cohesion policy of the COR on 16 November in Brussels, the Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn discussed the 5th Cohesion Report together with the CoR members bringing up a number of significant issues such as reinforcement of multilevel governance, need for decentralisation or simplification of funding. The fifth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion shows that the policy has created new jobs, increased human capital, built critical infrastructure and improved environmental protection, especially in the less developed regions. In reaction to the points made by Commissioner Hahn, the floor was taken by the European Alliance member Mr Mirosław Lech, Mayor of Korycin in Poland, who emphasized the fundamental political significance of cohesion policy for the new Member States. He noted that the future EU budget must provide a strong cohesion policy due to its added value for the EU. He also pointed out that it is very important to the future of cohesion policy, do not forget about European solidarity. He stressed that for Poland, as one of the new-comers to the EU, the cohesion policy plays an important role for effective regional development. Mr Lech put special emphasis on the issue of large divergences between the regions. In particular, he said that coming from the poorest region of Poland bordering with Belarus, development of the regions highly depends on historical, economic and geographical considerations. "EU is not a uniformed area," highlighted Mr Lech.