On 20 January 2026, the future of Cohesion Policy within the next EU long-term budget was at the centre of a high-level dialogue between AER President Lukas Mandl, CoR President Kata Tüttő, and prominent Members of the European Parliament committed to defending subsidiarity, multi-level governance, and the place-based approach beyond 2027.
AER and CoR reaffirm the shared mission to protect Cohesion Policy
In their opening remarks, President Mandl and President Tüttő both emphasised the importance of not allowing the pursuit of streamlined governance and administrative efficiency to harm Cohesion Policy. President Tüttő added that the coming months are an irreplaceable window to negotiate the proposed National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), which would centralise the management of Cohesion funds and initiatives at the national level.
A cross-party commitment to defend subsidiarity, multi-level governance, and the place-based approach
In the exchange that followed with representatives of the European Parliament, the irreplaceable role of Cohesion Policy in reducing economic, social and territorial disparities unified MEPs across party boundaries. Pascal Arimont (Belgium, European People’s Party) highlighted his commitment to maintaining regional structures in the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework and reaffirmed the importance of consulting with the CoR on relevant matters.
Paulo Do Nascimento Cabral (Portugal, European People’s Party) stressed that the complete nationalisation of all Cohesion programmes and funds would go against the interests of Member States. For Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle (the Netherlands, Renew), the next MFF must guarantee access to Cohesion Policy funds to all regions, regardless of their level of development.
The dialogue concluded with the reaffirmed commitment by the AER and CoR to further strengthen the collaboration and dialogue on the future of Cohesion Policy post 2027.
