Brussels - The EU Regions Week officially started on Monday afternoon, gathering hundreds of representatives from local and regional institutions and entities in the European Parliament’s Hemicycle. This first event was a way to reflect on regions and cities’ achievements and to prepare for upcoming challenges and crisis.
The Political Opening was held after Monday morning’s Russian missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, where more than 10 people died and severe damages were reported. All the main panelists, including Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and President of the European Committee of the Regions Vasco Alves Cordeiro, expressed their solidarity to Ukrainian people.
People in the Parliament attended to a comprehensive presentation of achievements made by regional and local authorities in relation with the Cohesion Fund. In this sense, it was pointed out that cohesion funding grew from the equivalent of 34% to 52% of total public investment from the 2007-2013 programming period to the 2014-2020 programming period.
A part of local representatives focused as well on the role of cohesion policy as the most effective tool for solidarity in response to emergencies and the aftermath of crises, as show regarding the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The citizens response to participation in local governance is in its lowest levels. According to Mr. Cordeiro, only 1% of those surveyed by IPSOS had engaged entirely in cohesion policies. Furthermore, only 10% had involved partly on these policies, he mentioned.
Many representatives in the hemicycle were young people who were elected in their own regions and cities. These representatives addressed issues like climate change, women’s position on the current crisis or the disparities in both regional and local levels.
“The future of Cohesion Policy is the future of the European Union”. This was stated by the mayor of Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Emil Boc. Indeed, “every crisis is a chance”, according to Radim Srsen, mayor of Dolní Studénky. He stated that we should have a different approach on funding important projects changing the infrastructure in less developed areas.
More than seven hundred local representatives were participating in the opening session, including more than forty youngsters between 18 and 29 years old. The event was broadcasted live and online in the EU Regions Week app.
Anderson Disha | Edited by Xoel Rodríguez Poy
