Mr Rhodri Glyn Thomas, EA Alternate Member to the ad-hoc commission on MFF said to Mr Lewandowski that the EU budget is an investment budget and pooling resources allows common tasks to be achieved more efficiently and effectively than each Member State acting separately. He believes that the new CAP after 2013 and Cohesion Policy should therefore enable rural areas despite their diversity to rise to the challenges they are currently faced with. He also stressed the necessity to develop more integrated territorial approach within EU regions and take greater account of the needs of rural areas. He emphasised on the added value of one of the only common EU policies and on the of controlling CAP spending in order to focus more on the goal of social and territorial cohesion, including in relation to production, green growth and achieving greater synergy with other EU Policy. The CAP is very important in preserving the fabric of rural communities across Europe, also thus contributing to the wider goal of social and territorial cohesion.