Cohesion policy

Removing cohesion policy from the EU's list of top priorities would be a mistake, Spanish territorial minister Manuel Chaves declared on 16 February.

 

Speaking at a meeting of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions.(CPMR) in Gijón, Manuel Chaves said that cohesion policy should become part of the backbone of the EU's (future) "2020 strategy", which will underpin European growth efforts for the coming decade.

 

Manuel Chaves added that cohesion funds should not be available only to the poorest regions. Spain's government would like a reformed cohesion policy to benefit all regions and become a force for sustainable development and tackling social exclusion.

The Spanish minister also spoke against any "renationalisation" of the future cohesion policy. He warned that his country's EU presidency would strongly oppose moves from Member States that are seeking to overtake their regions as the main interlocutors of structural funds.

 

The future of cohesion policy has lately been the subject of heated debate in European circles. It currently amounts to one third of the EU budget.

 

The Council of European Municipality and Regions (CEMR) has consistently argued against the renationalisation of cohesion policy and against structural funds being made available only to poorest regions. Last November, CEMR and other local and regional networks wrote a joint letter to the European Parliament to this effect.

 

Source: Euractiv