"Regions must be at the heart of all EU policies and new EU Budget proposals"​​​​​

Yesterday, the European Commission presented its proposal for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which will serve as the European Union's budget for the coming years. The European Alliance is deeply concerned about the Commission's plans to recentralize cohesion and agricultural policy through so-called National and Regional Partnership Plans.

"Recentralising and having ​National envelopes for cohesion and agricultural policy represents a fundamental break with core EU values such as subsidiarity, multilevel governance, and the inclusion of local and regional perspectives," says EA President Nannete Maupertuis.

Recentralisation of cohesion and agricultural policy

In its plan, the Commission intends to fundamentally reform the current cohesion and agricultural policies. Specifically, the Commission proposes to place these policy areas within the first pillar of the MFF — the so-called National and Regional Partnership Plans. This would shift the governance of cohesion and agricultural policies from a bottom-up to a top-down approach, placing Member States in charge. Rather than building on the valuable input of local and regional authorities, the Commission's proposal completely disregards the local perspective — even though regions, cities, towns, and villages are responsible for implementing and achieving EU objectives.

Modernising the MFF​

Despite these very serious concerns, the EA Group also welcomes the Commission's push to modernise the MFF. “As Europe faces substantial challenges in a rapidly changing world, it is positive that the Commission intends to invest in a competitive Union," explains Maupertuis. “In that regard, we are pleased to see increased investment in important policy areas such as research and development, digital infrastructure, clean technology, but as always the devil is in the detail and we would like to see programmes like Interreg and LIFE continuing .

Steps forward

President Maupertuis ultimately expresses determination for the future: “It is now up to our Group and all its members to steer the MFF in the right direction. We will do this through our work in the European Committee of the Regions, as well as in our own regions. The process has only just begun."

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