CoR consultation shows that the vast majority of
regions and cities are excluded from the preparation of
post-COVID recovery plans, despite being key in
fighting the emergency. European Commission commits to
take this crucial factor into account when assessing
national plans.
The results of
a recent consultation
carried out by CoR and CEMR highlight that many EU
governments are excluding regions and cities from
the preparation of post-COVID recovery plans.
Regional and local leaders brought their concerns
to the attention of the European Commission's
Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works
for People, Valdis Dombrovskis, during the March
Plenary session of the European Committee of the
Regions (CoR).
The debate on the role of regions and cities in the
design, implementation and governance of national
recovery plans, as well as the new Action Plan on the
European Pillar of Social Rights, was followed by the
presentation of the opinion on the European Trade
Policy review drafted by Willy Borsus
(BE/Renew Europe), Vice-President and Minister for
Economy and Foreign Trade of Wallonia. The opinion will
be officially adopted at the end of the plenary.
Opening the Plenary's debate, the President of the CoR
Apostolos Tzitzikostas
highlighted that "t
op-down receipts and centralisation would seriously
undermine the impact of the EU recovery funding. We
need to make sure that the key role played by
regions, cities and villages on the pandemic front
is duly mirrored in the governance of recovery
plans as well as in the European Semester work. We
welcome the European Commission's commitment to
take this crucial factor into account when
assessing and adopting national plans
."
Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said: "
Member States are working hard to draw up Recovery
and Resilience Plans. A strong regional and local
ownership will be important for their success on
the ground, along with support from social partners
and civil society. National Plans will need to
explain how the consultations with stakeholders are
carried out and reflected in the proposed
investment and reforms, and how they contribute to
enhancing cohesion taking into account local,
regional and national disparities. The involvement
of regional and local authorities and stakeholders
will be equally important in the implementation
phase.
"
CoR members also discussed to what extent a reformed EU
trade policy could contribute to the economic recovery.
Taking stock of both external challenges, such as
heightened geopolitical tensions, and internal
challenges, such as the European green deal and the
digital transition, they demanded an overhaul of EU
trade policy in order to realign it with the EU's
overarching social and economic orientations. In order
to increase the EU trade policy's legitimacy, the CoR
called for a stronger and earlier involvement of local
and regional authorities as well as civil society
organisations in future trade related legislative
proposals.
Willy Borsus
(BE/Renew Europe), Vice-President and Minister for
Economy and Foreign Trade of Wallonia, said: "
In order to reinforce its position as a global
leader for an open, fair, sustainable and
rules-based international trading order, the EU has
to thoroughly rethink its trade policy."
Moreover, the discussion offered the opportunity for a
first political exchange between local, regional and
European representatives on the new
Action Plan for the implementation of the
European Pillar of Social Rights
, presented by the EU Commission two weeks ago. "
In our daily work on the pandemic frontline, we saw
the health emergency become more and more of a
social emergency. We therefore welcome the Action
Plan for the implementation of the Social Pillar as
a tool to steer investment on social cohesion,
based on clear objectives to be achieved by
integrating the EU, national and regional resources
and policies
", said
Anne Karjalainen
(FI/PES), chair of the COR commission for Social
Policy, Education, Employment and Culture (SEDEC).
Background:
The European CoR and the Council of European
Municipalities and Regions (
CEMR
) carried out a joint consultation on the involvement
of local and regional authorities in the preparation of
the national Recovery and Resilience plans. The results
were presented on 22 January during the meeting of the
CoR's Commission for Economic Policy. They pointed out
that only a few countries took on local and regional
authorities' input, thereby threatening the successful
implementation of the Recovery Plan for Europe.
More information
here
.
On 16 June 2020, the European Commission launched a
consultation on the EU's trade and investment
policy
. The consultation's first objective was to assess how
trade policy can contribute to a swift and sustainable
socio-economic recovery, reinforce the EU's
competitiveness and help to promote its values and
standards. The second objective was to review trade
policy following a model of "
Open Strategic Autonomy
." The Open Strategic Autonomy-model will enable
European businesses, workers and consumers to reap the
benefits of openness while at the same time protecting
them from unfair practices, and building up the EU's
resilience towards unknown future challenges. The CoR
contributed to this work by submitting its draft
opinion on the Commission's Trade Policy Review.
The European Commission presented the
Action Plan for the implementation of the
European Pillar of Social Rights
on 4 March. It sets three ambitious headline targets
which should guide policy decisions in the Member
States and their regions to achieve the objectives of
the Pillar, also by making full use of different EU
funds to unlock social investment.
The new headline targets imply that by 2030 at least
78% of EU population aged 20 to 64 should be employed,
at least 60% of all adults should participate in
training every year and the number of people at risk of
poverty or social exclusion should be reduced by at
least 15 million.
Find the press release on the reaction to the
presentation of the Action Plan
here
.
Contacts:
Matteo Miglietta
Tel. +32 (0)470 895 382
matteo.miglietta@cor.europa.eu
Maximilian v. Klenze
Tel. +32 2 282 2044
Maximilian.vonKlenze@ext.cor.europa.eu