Decentralised cooperation currently represents just 0.3% of the Commission's development budget and should be increased – according to the opinion of J.F.M. (Hans) Janssen (EPP/NL) A decent life for all: from vision to collective action adopted by the European Committee of the Regions commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) today. The Mayor of Oisterwijk proposes decentralised cooperation as an important conduit in the fight to eradicate poverty and ensure sustainable development.
"We believe that the Commission's communication focuses a bit too narrowly on the national level. Many of the listed priorities will also require commitment from local and regional authorities, in terms of policy and decision-making as well as planning and implementation. We specifically ask for the added value of exchanging knowledge between local authorities to be recognised by the European Commission because it is crucial to implementing the transformative agenda" – underlines the rapporteur.
The opinion, which will be subject to adoption by the CoR's plenary session in April 2015, provides a set of proposals for enhanced decentralised cooperation in the new Sustainable Development Goals: it recommends broadening the priority of combating inequality, both within but also between countries and supports policy clustering because of the links between priority areas and their related target topics. However, in view of the significant growth of urbanisation worldwide, the rapporteur proposes retaining "sustainable cities and human settlements" as a separate priority.
Janssen also calls for the process of “localising the post-2015 agenda” to be continued:
"In many countries, there is still little or no decentralisation, which means that the capacities of local and regional authorities are often limited. The CoR contributes to making their voice heard through the biannual dialogue on decentralised cooperation, and its two international forums – the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) and the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP)".
The EU's local and regional representatives perceive this communication and the European Year for Development as a unique opportunity to renew and strengthen cooperation ahead of the UN proposals for the post-2015 framework as well as the global partnerships necessary to eradicate extreme poverty and to ensure a decent and sustainable life for all by 2030.