Kriza zaradi COVID-19 je pokazala, da je kohezijska politika zdaj bolj kot kdaj koli prej potrebna za povečanje vzdržnosti v Evropi in zaščito državljanov ter za to, da bi okrevali čisto vsi deli Evropske unije in nihče ne bi bil prezrt. #CohesionAlliance je zavezništvo na ravni EU z 12 000 podpisniki , ki se zavzemajo za močnejšo kohezijsko politiko. Ustanovljeno je bilo oktobra 2017 in od takrat mu je uspelo, da smo se izognili dramatičnemu krčenju proračuna po letu 2020, ohranili kohezijsko politiko za vse regije v Uniji ter pripravljali enostavnejša in prožnejša pravila. Na videokonferenci o njegovi novi usmeritvi so ustanovni člani obnovili svojo zavezo, da bodo združili moči in kohezijsko politiko ohranili kot eno najpomembnejših nalog EU. Zavezništvo bo skrbno spremljalo, ali države članice pri oblikovanju in izvajanju kohezijsko politike v obdobju 2021–2027 dosledno spoštujejo načelo partnerstva. Skladnost in sinergije med instrumenti za okrevanje in strukturnimi skladi so izrednega pomena, da se izognemo prekrivanju in čim bom povečamo učinek evropskih ukrepov.

The Connecting Europe Express is one of the key initiatives of the European Year of Rail 2021 and aims to draw attention to the many benefits of rail in both the passenger and freight sectors. It also feeds into the EU's overarching goal set out under the European Green Deal of encouraging a 'shift to rail' across the EU in order to decarbonise transport flows and increase sustainable mobility. The importance of the territorial dimension of the initiative has been underlined by the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, in a letter sent to the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) President Apostolos Tzitzikostas, which invited all members of the CoR to join the project and visit the train at one of its destinations.

The results of a survey carried out by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) show a clear demand among local and regional authorities to extend the flexibility measures introduced last year to mobilise EU structural funds and state aid in the fight against COVID-19. Regions and cities need extraordinary rules to be maintained in order to secure the continuity of emergency investment and the deployment of crucial initiatives such as job retention schemes. This request is included in a letter co-signed by the CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas and the chair of the CoR's COTER commission Isabelle Boudineau, addressed to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the commissioners responsible for the relevant policies.