The second day of the CoR's 165th plenary session saw debate on the European Commission's recent cohesion policy reforms led by Commissioner for Enlargement and Reform, Rafaelle Fitto. Commissioner Fitto prefaced his keynote speech by affirming cohesion policy's place 'at the heart of EU policy' and his commitment to recognising diverse regional strengths and needs. Accordingly, Mr. Fitto stressed the necessity of modernising cohesion policy so that regions and territories 'to face new and unprecedented challenges. To this end, Mr. Fitto outlined five new priorities for cohesion policy: competiveness, defence funding, affordable housing, water resilience and energy transition. To achieve these goals, the Commission will provide cofinancing and pre-financing incentives and simplify cohesion fund regulations so that national and regional governments can flexibly invest according to their territories' needs.
Caroline Dwane Stanley welcomed the Commission's revised priorities, reaffirming the particular need to focus on challenges that ubiquitously impact EU member states like housing affordability, energy security and water resilience. Nonetheless, Ms. Dwane cautioned that cohesion policy must be reformed carefully to avoid 'drifting from its core purpose of reducing disparities between regions and ensuring no one is left behind'. With this in mind, she asserted that cities and regions must retain hold over the planning, management and implementation of cohesion policy so that it remains reflective of and responsive to local and regional needs. Ultimately, Ms. Dwane agreed with Commissioner Fitto that cohesion policy must be modernised but urged him 'not to lose sight of its foundations and consequently where it is needed most'.