The CoR Plenary on the 31st January 2013 adopted Mr Rhodri Glyn Thomas's own-initiative opinion on creating greater synergies between EU, Member State and sub-State budgets.

Mr Thomas said: "Sub-national authorities across Europe play a key role in supporting public investments, accounting for over two thirds of the 7% of general government expenditure spent on average each year across Europe on public investments (including capital infrastructure), the vast majority of which falls within key priority areas (education, economic affairs, housing, communities and environment) for delivering Europe 2020s objectives. The EU Budget, in particular through the EU Structural Funds programmes, adds clear value to this, providing a stable, seven-year funding pot, can be used to (i) focus local and regional efforts on medium to long-term investment strategies (ii) create a multiplier effect by aligning local and regional funds to deliver on these common priorities. "In my opinion I call for the European Commission to prepare a Green Paper on synergies during 2013, that should set out a number of principles (respect for fiscal autonomy, partnership, transparency, streamlining budgetary processes) to take forward this agenda, as well as proposing ways to address the numerous bottlenecks that currently make it difficult to achieve synergies in practice."