Comité van de regio's: "cohesiefonds moet beter geïntegreerd worden in ander beleid" (en) - Hoofdinhoud

The lack of reference to cohesion policy in the European Commission's recently published consultation document on the EU 2020 agenda is 'alarming', according to Michael Schneider (DE/EPP), Chairman of the Commission for territorial cohesion policy in the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and rapporteur on the future of cohesion policy.

On the invitation of Michael Schneider, almost 100 cohesion policy experts from EU institutions, regional and local authorities and their representative associations gathered in the Committee of the Regions today to discuss the future of the 'competitiveness and employment' objective in EU cohesion policy programming after 2013.

In the EU's current budgetary framework, this objective, also called 'objective 2', helps regions to anticipate and promote economic change by co-funding projects in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship, environmental protection and human resources. Today's meeting was part of a series of consultations to prepare the CoR's outlook opinion on the future of cohesion policy that Schneider, European Affairs State Secretary of the German Land of Saxony-Anhalt, is drafting as CoR rapporteur.

Speaking at the meeting, Michael Schneider said: "EU cohesion policy has thus far made an important contribution to the implementation of the Lisbon strategy on the ground. This is why it has to be adequately taken into account also in the development of the new EU 2020 strategy. Cohesion policy can help to link this strategy with Europe's local and regional authorities.

" Lambert van Nistelrooij i (NL/EPP), member of the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development, stated: "The Lisbon Treaty has just introduced territorial cohesion as a fundamental EU objective, and in our discussions on future EU policies we have to recognise the important role of Europe's regions and cities. Combining an excellency-driven, EU-level approach with regional expertise, the current 'competitiveness objective' is a powerful tool in adapting Europe to the challenges of the 21st century. It supports our regions and towns in strengthening their innovation and research capacities in future-oriented areas, such as information and communication technologies or nanotechnology."

Notes to editors: Earlier this year, the European Commission asked the Committee of the Regions to draw up a so-called "outlook opinion" summarising its key ideas and proposals for the future of cohesion policy in order to feed into the post-2013 debate, and Michael Schneider was appointed CoR rapporteur for this dossier. Arguing strongly for retaining cohesion policy as one of the EU's core priorities, Michael Schneider will now consolidate the practical suggestions that the Committee of the Regions has come up with over the past few years to form a coherent opinion representing the experiences and expertise of Europe's regions and cities. Following a series of grassroots consultations with the associations representing Europe's regional and local authorities, Schneider will present his draft opinion to the CoR's Commission for territorial cohesion policy on 26 February 2010. Formal adoption of his draft opinion is foreseen for the Committee of the Regions' plenary session in mid-April 2010. For more information, please contact: Michael Alfons +32 (0)2 546 85 59 +32 (0)2 282 20 85