Atzinuma faktu lapa 

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



- emphasises that since the beginning, the EU Territorial Agenda (TA) has defined itself as an action-oriented policy framework, developed to promote polycentric territorial development of the EU. Responsibility for political action lies mainly with local and regional authorities, the Member States and European Institutions;

- regrets that the territorial agenda was missing from the political arena for several years, but welcomes the interest shown by the current presidency trio, Italy-Latvia-Luxembourg;

- emphasises that the (place-based) territorial approach is the only policy model through which the Union can address the expectations of European citizens. This is also why the European Union, with the active commitment of the Committee of the Regions as well as local and regional authorities and other stakeholders, must play a bigger role in the development of a place-based approach that will improve the way the EU Territorial Agenda is implemented;

- points to the need for joint strategic planning for the whole of Europe based on a general vision of future development with the aim of supporting better coordination of EU policies, generating synergy between sectors and clearly indicating which institutions are responsible for implementing the TA at European, national, regional and local levels;

- emphasises the benefits of the polycentric regional development model and in this context highlights the importance of links between urban and rural areas and the role of small and medium-sized urban areas in achieving more balanced territorial development;

- recommends strengthening the territorial dimension in connection with the effective implementation of Europe 2020 and beyond, which particularly takes into account the territorial impact of EU policies;

- calls for a renewed debate on measuring the quality of life using "GDP and beyond" indicators, emphasising that territorial cohesion is complementary to economic and social cohesion and therefore cannot be measured solely by economic indicators.