Empowering communities requires action on multiple levels and fields. During the European Week of Regions and Cities, the AER political leadership put forward our commitment to advocating for Cohesion Policy as means to ensure territorial cohesion and boosting competitiveness.
President Albert Castellanos (Catalonia, ES), Vice President Linda Helén Haukland (Nordland, NO) and Secretary General Vania Freitas met with Mario Nava, Director-General at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion to underline the role of the regions in creating and improving job opportunities, highlighting their capacity to deliver the European Skills Agenda through initiatives like Eurodyssey. Potential areas of common interest, especially regarding upskilling and reskilling, were also highlighted during the meeting with Karl Vanlouwe, President of the European Alliance (EA) Group at the European Committee of the Regions.
Building upon the importance of revitalising regions’ resources, especially the rural ones, Harold Zoet (Gelderland, NL), Chair of the AER Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Development, presented the AER commitment to advocate for more efficient allocation of EU funds in stimulating rural development, sustainable farming and food security. In a similar spirit, Secretary General Vania Freitas moderated the Working Group on Retaining and Attracting Talents in Rural Areas of the European Commission’s Harnessing Talent Platform.
Talent attraction and retention was also at the centre of the EU-Belong workshop ‘Skills (EU)Belong here’ (summary article coming soon), where the partner regions of Catalonia, Donegal, Emilia-Romagna shared best practices about upskilling and integrating migrants in the labour market through ground-breaking initiatives inspired by interculturalism. The AER commitment in promoting positive diversity and migration management at the regional level was also discussed during the meeting with Beate Gminder, the European Commission’s acting Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs.
As the Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations about Cohesion Policy post 2027 come closer, the Cohesion Alliance hosted a debate at the European Committee of the Regions which called upon the full compliance of the four golden principles of cohesion policy: multilevel governance, partnerships, place-based approach, and shared management. The debate was moderated by AER’s Secretary General Vania Freitas, and it featured Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), Elina Rantanen, Deputy Mayor of Turku and Eurocities representative, Jan Szyszko, State Secretary in the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, and Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj Napoca.
Panellists agreed that, alongside consistent decentralization in decision-making, the Cohesion Policy is fundamental to achieving the three key priorities of global competitiveness, decarbonisation and enlargement.
