NEREUS is supporting the #CohesionAlliance


Currently, worth one-third of the EU budget, the EU’s cohesion policy reduces regional disparities, creates jobs, opens new business opportunities and addresses major global issues such as climate change and migration. EU cohesion policy has enabled many regions to make investments in strategic sectors for them, in line with the smart specialization strategy. When it comes to investing in innovation, it is commonly understood that in Europe, the interactions between innovation and development follows a place-based logic. It is even more so the case when it comes to stimulating the downstream market in the space sector, in response to territorial management needs.

 

For this reason, NEREUS strongly supports the #CohesionAlliance, a coalition of those who believe that EU cohesion policy must continue to be a pillar of the EU’s future. The Alliance was created through cooperation between the leading European associations of cities and regions and the European Committee of the Regions. It demands that the EU budget after 2020 makes cohesion policy stronger, more effective, visible and available for every region in the European Union.

 

As #CohesionAlliance we declare that cohesion policy…

  • works as a long-term investment policy for all regions in Europe to support growth and jobs at local
    and regional level by promoting innovative solutions for issues such as climate change and energy
    transition, social inclusion, as well as for cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation;
  • is needed more than ever as an expression of European solidarity to overcome the economic, social
    and territorial divide by providing every citizen, wherever they live in Europe, with a tangible opportunity
    to experience the advantages of our European Union;
  • must be better communicated as the EU policy closest to the citizen, having a direct impact on their daily
    lives;
  • must continue to be an effective policy with sufficient resources of at least one-third of the future EU
    budget to be delivered via grants and, where appropriate, via financial instruments;
  • must be based on the existing European Structural and Investment Funds with a common set of
    provisions;
  • requires the strengthening of the partnership principle and the place-based approach by reinforcing
    the key role of local and regional authorities in delivering the policy by actively engaging urban and rural
    communities and promoting tools to trigger and support local development through integrated strategies;
  • must be better coordinated with other EU policies on a level playing field by taking into account the
    specificities of municipalities, cities and regions in the European Union;
  • must not be subject to conditionalities at European level that cannot be influenced by local and regional
    authorities and other beneficiaries;
  • must be simplified and improved, based on increased trust between the levels of the government
    implementing the funds and a more flexible and differentiated approach.

 

Join the #CohesionAlliance

 

Do you support the Cohesion Policy? Have your say in the public consultation launched by the European Commission

(Deadline: 8th March 2018)


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