To welcome the European Commission's commitment to making an active and constructive contribution to reaching the strategic objectives set out in the 2030 Agenda;
to highlight that in order to achieve results it is essential to involve all levels of government in the decision-making process, particularly local and regional authorities (LRAs);
to outline that LRAs – regions, provinces, counties, districts, metropolitan cities, small cities and municipalities – are fully-fledged policy-makers, tasked with identifying the most appropriate levels and methods of government for linking the overarching EU and UN objectives with those of local communities;
to highlight that if a sub-set of local and regional level objectives is to be achieved, it will have to be properly funded. The necessary resources could be made available by means of specific transfers from the national level, but also by conferring greater budgetary powers on local bodies;
to make recommendations to the local, regional, national and international level in order to beter achieve the SDGs.
A Multi-stakeholder platform on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals has been set up by the EC. Three CoR members participated in the work of the Platform: Mr. Arnoldas Abramavicius, 1st VP of ECON Commission as full member and Mr. Peter Bossman (CIVEX) and Mr. Roby Biwer (ENVE) as observers.
See pages 6-10 of the follow-up report drafted by the European Commission: https://cor.europa.eu/en/our-work/Documents/Opinions/76th-Report_CoR-Follow-up-opinions-July-2017.pdf
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
welcomes the European Commission's commitment to making an active and constructive contribution to reaching the strategic objectives set out in the 2030 Agenda;
highlights that in order to achieve results it is essential to involve all levels of government in the decision-making process, particularly local and regional authorities (LRAs);
insists that LRAs – regions, provinces, counties, districts, metropolitan cities, small cities and municipalities – are fully-fledged policy-makers, tasked with identifying the most appropriate levels and methods of government for linking the overarching EU and UN objectives with those of local communities;
regrets that the communication does not include an assessment of potential risks in the implementation phase of the 17 SDGs;
highlights that if a sub-set of local and regional level objectives is to be achieved, it will have to be properly funded. The necessary resources could be made available by means of specific transfers from the national level, but also by conferring greater budgetary powers on local bodies;
emphasises that LRAs must be recognised as key players in policies, due to their proximity to citizens and their potential to contribute to rebuilding consensus on the European institutions and the European project. Multilevel Governance is the ideal approach for policies that aim to build a sustainable future and combine the 10 Commission priorities with the 11 thematic goals of the Cohesion Funds and the 17 SDG goals of the 2030 Agenda;
reiterates that LRAs have a crucial role to play in the relationship between public-private partnerships, as they are able to recognise the diversity of forms of development able to generate investments that make the most of the local resources inherent in each region;
asks the EU and national authorities to set aside resources to cover ex ante and ex post impact assessments of policies relating to sustainable development. This will call for improved coordination of all policies implemented, both by the EU and Member States and by the LRAs.