The
Fit for Future (F4F) Platform
plenary– an evaluation tool established by the European
Commission for better and less burdensome EU
legislation - met on 27 January to discuss and adopt
its 2023 work programme.
Two opinions out of eight that were retained to
be analysed in 2023
in view of the revision of the EU legislation will be
drafted by CoR members Anne Karjalainen (FI/PSE) and
Michiel Rijsberman (NL/Renew Europe), respectively on
the review of the EU Directive 2014/24/EU of 26
February 2014 on public procurement and on the Digital
Europe programme. Both topics were ranked as high
priorities by the F4F platform participants and are of
great relevance for local and regional authorities.
Anne Karjalainen
(FI/PES), Chair of Kerava City Council and rapporteur
on the said:
"Most public procurement is done at the local and
regional level and it will be a key policy tool on
the path towards the green and digital transitions.
This is why cities and regions need to be involved
in the process and provide their valuable input."
Michiel Rijsberman
(NL/Renew Europe), Member of the Council of the
province of Flevoland and rapporteur on the Digital
Europe Programme, said:
"The digital transformation of Europe’s society and
economy is one of the main challenges we face
today, to be put in practice effectively as well as
ethically and accountably. I will look at the
European Commission’s 2023 evaluation of the
Digital Europe programme from a practical and
cohesion-orientated point of view, drawing on
expertise and feedback from the network of Regional
Hubs, our partners and stakeholders. The
programme’s objectives, like those on Artificial
Intelligence and Advanced Digital Skills, focus
strongly on implementation by public
administrations at all levels. This is why our
input as local and regional representatives will be
instrumental".
The work of the CoR rapporteurs will be supported by
the
CoR's Network of Regional Hubs (RegHub)
. With 46 contact points across the EU, the network,
which is a sub-group of the F4F platform provides
feedback on implementation of EU laws on the ground.
The network thus adds the local and regional
perspective to EU policymaking and enlarges its
evidence base.
Local and regional authorities implement 70% of EU
laws. Since the creation of the
Fit for Future (F4F) platform
by the European Commission, the CoR has been the most
actively engaged F4F Platform member. In the last two
years, the CoR has delivered five opinions which were
adopted by the Platform on following topics: public
procurement, INSPIRE directive, patients' rights in
cross-border healthcare, governments interoperability
strategy and end-of-life vehicles directive.
The F4F platform is the main instrument of the
Better regulation agenda
of the European Commission designed to simplify and
modernise EU laws to better tackle future challenges,
while cutting red tape. The CoR is present in the
Platform at both levels of revising and evaluating
existing EU legislation. This stronger involvement in
the EU law making process is the one of the
achievements of the CoR work in the
Task force on Subsidiarity and Proportionality.
The Platform has more than 50 members (incl.
representatives from the 27 Member States). The Fit for
Future Platform work programme follows the priorities
of the Europe Commission annual work programme.
The draft opinions will be discussed at the next F4F
platform meeting on 2 June 2023.