European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) play a vital role for the EU – however, clearer targets and simpler rules are needed to enhance the funds' performance. The results also need to be better communicated to the citizens, to maintain the levels of support for these investments. These were the main messages shared by regions' and cities' representatives from the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy (COTER) with the Members of the European Parliament's Committee for Regional Development (REGI), from a joint meeting on 12 October.
EPP-CoR Group President and CoR rapporteur on the future of Cohesion Policy beyond 2020, Michael Schneider (EPP/DE) called for the policy to be more tailor-made and corresponding to the real needs of regions: "We should avoid one size fits all approach", he underlined.
EPP-EP coordinator for Cohesion Policy MEP Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP/NL) raised the problem of insufficient quality of communication and publicity related to the EU's structural investments in regions and cities "Why can't we use some of the Cohesion funds for better storytelling?" he asked underlining "we shouldn't be shy about results". President Schneider however, said that much clearer rules and more trust are necessary in that regard.
Former CoR Member MEP Krzysztof Hetman (EPP/PL) agreed that mostly marginal negative stories made it to the media instead of a majority of good investment examples. He stressed that the EU's Cohesion Policy is the most fruitful investment policy in the EU, but it needs more simplification and confidence between the involved parties.
Looking into the future, President Schneider stated that the Cohesion Policy should become more flexible in the next period, responding to unforeseen events without abandoning its strategic focus and planning certainty for the local and regional authorities. EPP COTER Commission coordinator Ivan Žagar(EPP/SL) underlined that significant imbalances still remain and that the future Cohesion Policy must have the resources to further reduce these disparities. "Its implementation system must be effective, well-targeted and simple to use".
Whereas Chairman of the CoR's COTER Commission, Raffaele Cattaneo (EPP/IT), called for bold measures to improve the performance of the policy: "We should have more focus on results through explicitly formulated objectives" he advocated.
REGI and COTER Members agreed on the need to effectively connect the next generation of ESIF-supported investment plans to the actual challenges faced by regions and cities on the ground.
