Making the next EU budget work for cities and regions: the Local Alliance’s 10-point action plan
The Local Alliance – a coalition of Europe’s leading local and regional governments: ACR+, CEMR, Climate Alliance, Energy Cities, Eurocities, FEDARENE, ICLEI Europe and POLIS, – aims at ensuring that our constituencies have the competencies and resources to implement and reinforce Europe’s resilience, competitiveness and decarbonisation.
We share a common vision for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to become a strong, democratic, and future-proof tool that drives cohesion across territories, reinforces Europe’s competitiveness, and enables a just transition towards climate-neutral and resilient transition.
Local and regional governments are Europe’s frontline for delivering change. They are the democratic level closest to citizens, trusted by a majority of Europeans, and directly or through shared responsibility in charge of implementing most EU legislation. They mobilise the bulk of climate-relevant investment, drive innovation and competitiveness, and safeguard cohesion and just transition by ensuring that no community is left behind. Without their leadership, Europe cannot succeed in meeting its green, digital, social, and competitiveness ambitions.
Yet instead of empowering this strength, the Commission’s proposal for the next MFF risks sidelining local and regional governments, who are best placed to deliver. A centralised approach, which does not reflect the local realities and priorities, not only threatens delivery on the ground, but also Europe’s long-term societal, democratic and economic resilience and competitiveness. As the Committee of the Regions’ most recent report highlights, European cities and regions need a budget to help build the Union from the ground up – where local and regional authorities are not only implementers but co-creators of Europe’s future.
With the negotiations already underway, the Local Alliance calls on the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to seize this opportunity to put democracy, territorial cohesion, and competitiveness at the heart of the next MFF by ensuring local and regional governments are recognised as indispensable partners. Europe cannot achieve its strategic objectives without working hand in hand with its towns, cities and regions. For this reason, the Local Alliance presents an 10 point action plan to ensure the EU budget delivers tangible results for people in every territory across Europe and beyond.
For the next MFF, we call on:
1. Stronger multilevel governance mechanisms to deliver both reforms and investments.
2. Stronger partnership principle for the implementation of the MFF.
For the National and Regional Partnership Plans:
3. Making regional and territorial chapters of the National and Regional Partnership Plans mandatory, with a clear section on cities.
4. Earmarking for a just transition & affordable living for all.
5. A real EU program for cities of all sizes under the proposed EU Facility.
6. Safeguarding mechanism for the local and regional level to guarantee their access to EU funds.
7. Linking performance indicators to EU law implementation and territorial delivery.
For the European Competitiveness Fund and Horizon Europe:
8. Competitiveness Fund and Horizon Europe should recognise cities and regions explicitly as innovators and investors.
For Horizon Europe:
9. Continuing the Mission approach under Horizon Europe.
For the Global Europe Facility:
10. Stronger support for accession cities and regions for the future of European cohesion.
Read the full position paper here
For more information, contact:
Director – Policy & Impact
