EPP-CoR members discussed the findings of the EU Regional Barometer during a debate with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission highlighting the role of cities and regions during the pandemic and the need for decision making and recovery to fully take into consideration the local and regional perspective.

Apostolos Tzitzikostas Governor of the region of Central Macedonia and President of the European Committee of the Regions said that the EU budget and the Next Generation EU need to meet the needs of territories and communities. Speaking on the need to engage local and regional authorities, President Tzitzikostas said "A EU recovery plan which remains spatially blind, meets only national needs and isn't shaped with local/regional governments will fail". ''The crisis" – continued President Tzitzikostas – "threatens to create a lost COVID-19 generation, with young people's jobs being more at risk, and only six Member States able to offer digital education for 80% or more of students. The 67% of Europeans who want cities and regions to have more influence on EU decisions tell us that it is time to re-think how EU democracy works, to better connect it with people in the territories . As regional and local leaders, we are committed to working together at the EU and national levels to recover from the pandemic and building resilient and sustainable communities."

In her intervention President von der Leyen spoke about the importance of local and regional authorities and the role they played during the pandemic. "Local politics is never abstract. It is about communities and people who care about their communities. Local authorities were the first line of defense when the crisis hit. Europeans know what their mayors, governors or councillors have done for them. They will be at the core of our recovery."

In his reaction, Olgierd Geblewicz, EPP-CoR President and President of Westpomerania Region said that the Next Generation EU should be targeted to the needs of regions. He added that the National Recovery and Resilience Plans will heal our economies only if they are drafted in close partnership with regional and local authorities. Geblewicz noted that the crisis affected cities and regions in an uneven way and therefore the response should be tailored to the specificities of each one of them and to the territorial impact of the crisis. Speaking about the relevance of the Regional Barometer Geblewicz emphasized "We need to base our policy choices on hard data from cities and regions. This will provide us with additional legitimacy and strong arguments to defend the recovery measures in difficult times."

Joke Schauvliege, Rapporteur on the opinion on 'Experiences and lessons learned by regions and cities during the COVID-19 crisis' agreed that the measures to overcome the economic and social impact of the crisis must be based on the right conclusions. She welcomed the initiative of President Tsitsikostas for a Regional Barometer report and described it as an important step as it represents the regional and local perspective for resilience and recovery.

EPP-CoR members also spoke about the need to have a three dimensional governance system. Anders Knape, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe said the multi-level governance systems do not hinder responses to the pandemic. On the contrary, they increase the quality of decisions and allow greater flexibility in coping with emergency situations. Piero Mauro Zanin, President of the Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia reiterated the need for greater engagement of the local and regional authorities in the national and European decision making processes. "Europe after COVID-19 must be one based on active subsidiarity." he concluded.

Sari Rautio, Chairperson of the City Board in Hämeenlinna spoke about the investment made in digitalization to increase access to education for children in her city. Speaking on the importance to invest more in digitalization Rautio said "This is the moment for Europe. This is the moment to use the Next Generation EU to have a greener, better and a more digital Europe."

From her end, Mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, remarked that Gdansk is the city of solidarity as shown during the pandemic. She remarked that the key elements for a better future for Europe are solidarity and cooperation.

 

BACKGROUND

The Barometer offers a snapshot of the impact of the social, economic and health crisis on EU's regions and cities. Its facts and findings are complemented by a survey of sub-national finances conducted jointly with the OECD, and by a public-opinion poll on the role and impact of regional and local authorities on the European decision-making process.

According to the poll of over 26,000 Europeans conducted by Kantar in the first two weeks of September, Europeans trust local and regional governments more than they trust national governments or the EU, both in general and in their response to the pandemic. They would like local and regional governments to have more influence on EU decisions relating to health, to employment and social affairs, and to education, training and culture.

The Annual Regional and Local Barometer (#EURegionalBarometer) contributed to a resolution "Local and regional authorities facing COVID-19 and building the recovery" that the 329 members of the CoR – the EU's political assembly of local and regional governments - will adopt on 13 October.

Findings of the Annual Regional and Local Barometer:

Annual Regional and Local Barometer – the regional economic impact (the story, in data)

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