5th Cohesion Forum

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) calls for a legally binding definition of the partnership principle in the future EU cohesion policy, as voiced by Carola Gunnarsson, CEMR.political rapporteur on territorial and cohesion policy and first Vice-President of SALAR.

 

CEMR sent out this appeal during the 5th Cohesion Forum, held on 31 January 2011 in Brussels, and stipulated that local and regional levels must be involved in the planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of cohesion-related initiatives.

 

Moreover, the 'future EU cohesion policy must continue to support all of the EU's territories in their social and economic development, as well as in their environmental sustainability," declared CEMR's Secretary General, Frédéric Vallier, at this occasion. Indeed, European institutions and other relevant actors must not oppose urban and rural areas nor developed territories and those lagging behind, as cohesion policy must be destined to all of Europe's regions.

 

Finally, and notably as underlined in CEMR's policy papers on the future of EU cohesion policy and on cohesion policy and the Europe 2020 strategy, 'cohesion policy is not a subsidiary of the Europe 2020 Strategy. It is a policy in its own right that aims to reduce the existing regional disparities and to promote harmonious development of all the regions in the EU."

 

The 5th Cohesion Forum closed the public consultation process on the future of cohesion policy. The Commission will thus present its legislative proposals for the future cohesion policy in the summer of 2011 after the new EU budget has been put forward.