In the framework of the structured dialogue’s first meeting of the year, AER Secretary General Mathieu Mori met on Friday 22 January the Secretaries General of the European Commission Alexander Italianer, of the Committee of the Regions Jiří Buriánek and a few selected other networks of cities and regions.

This meeting prefigures the annual meeting of President Hande Özsan Bozatli with the Presidents of these organisations on a date to be confirmed.

A key point of discussion was the future of cohesion policy post 2020 and the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) scheduled for the end of 2016. If the European Commission stated that cohesion policy would remain a key tool to fight development gaps between regions, nothing on the scope of the MFF mid-term review nor on the amount of flexibility to be introduced in its functioning was detailed.

AER will therefore continue to follow and influence closely these developments.

AER also stated its wish to be involved in the discussions on the revision of the Juncker Investment priorities at the end of 2017 and its link with cohesion policy.

On thematic issues, the commission took good note on the cooperation proposal from AER to implement the migration action plan to be announced in April 2016.

This first exchange of the year with the European Commission will be followed up by AER in order to make sure our organisation is involved in the decision-making process of all major policies of interest to its members.

If you have in your regions technical expertise about the MFF or the Juncker investment priorities and wish to work with the secretariat and the AER members on these topics, please contact Johanna Pacevicius.