Our reaction to the European Parliament draft report on National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP)
The European Parliament has taken a significant step towards shaping the future EU budget for 2028–2034 with the publication of its draft report on National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs). Drafted jointly by three Members of the Parliament (MEPs) from REGI (Andrey Novakov), BUDG (Karlo Ressler) and AGRI (Elsi Katainen) Committees, the draft report is a first steps towards the Parliament’s position on how EU funding should be designed and delivered across Europe’s regions and cities.
For the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the report sends an encouraging signal: local and regional governments must remain at the heart of EU investment policy.
The draft report reflects several key CEMR amendment proposals. These include:
- Stronger and enforceable multilevel governance, recognised as a horizontal conditionality.
- A dedicated earmark for integrated territorial and urban strategies
- More favorable conditions for local and regional governments including reduced national co-financing, increased pre-financing and the return to N+3 decommitment rule.
It also secures concrete gains such as support for administrative capacity building and clearer territorial delivery tools, acknowledging the central role of local authorities in delivering EU priorities on the ground.
A particularly important provision for CEMR is the proposal to earmark a share of EU funding for integrated territorial and urban strategies:
“We welcome the proposal to secure at least 11% of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding for integrated territorial and urban strategies. This reinforces a place-based approach and gives local and regional governments the certainty to plan, invest and deliver results.”
Kamila Blahova, Mayor of Litvínov, CEMR Spokesperson on Territorial Cohesion.
This commitment would help ensure that investments respond directly to the needs of communities, while strengthening the ability of cities and regions to plan long-term development.
Full details of CEMR’s amendments are available here.
Cities and regions united
CEMR is part of the Local Alliance, a coalition of leading networks representing around 2,000 cities and regions across Europe, which has jointly reacted to the Parliament’s report. The Alliance welcomes the strengthened role for local and regional authorities and calls on EU institutions to ensure that these commitments are fully reflected in the final EU budget.
Read the full Local Alliance press release here
For more information, please contact:
Advisor – Territorial Cohesion & Local Finances
