Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and former Prime Minister of Romania, was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) for a mandate of two and a half years.
Emil Boc (RO/EPP) has been a member of the CoR since 2019 and was rapporteur of many opinions on topics related to education, such as the European Education Area, the European Strategy for Universities, and how the EU is addressing the brain drain challenge. In his new role as chair of the COTER Commission, Mr Boc will focus his political activity on the use of the EU budget and cohesion funds, the decarbonisation of transports and the start of a forward-looking reflection to secure a strong and efficient cohesion policy also in the future.
Emil Boc commented on his election saying: "As COTER chair, one of my biggest priorities is to make sure that we will have an efficient sustainable and qualitative implementation of the current cohesion programmes and a strong cohesion policy in the future. We will dedicate a lot of attention to the upcoming debates. I will meet soon with the EU Commissioner for Cohesion Policy and Reforms Elisa Ferreira to discuss about our Joint Action Plan: we have to work closely with the Commission on how to provide the necessary support for local and regional authorities to speed up the implementation."
He added that: "There are many EU Funds that are linked to Cohesion directly or indirectly and this impacts negatively the capacity of regional and local beneficiaries to use the EU in general and the Cohesion Fund in particular. Concrete support is needed from the European Commission and Member States national governments in boosting the administrative capacity of regional and local authorities as main beneficiaries of the Cohesion Policy."
Addressing the members of COTER Commission he highlighted: "I want to ensure that our work as COTER and institution has a real impact in our territories, and that no region is left behind, no matter the size, demographic or geographic challenges. We must work together with all EU institutions and make sure that the voice of cities and regions and of our citizens is heard". Cohesion is not a technicality but a political principle, it is the glue that keeps Europe united. The democratic future of Europe depends on the future of Cohesion policy. Especially in these difficult moments we need cohesion and solidarity to be able to properly and efficiently respond to our citizen's needs."