Regions and cities call for an ambitious EU long term budget post 2027 with improved crisis management capacity

The post-2027 multiannual budget of the European Union must be simpler, more flexible and built on the needs of local communities, who can ensure that investments will effectively promote cohesion across all territories. These are the main proposals included in an opinion adopted by unanimity at the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 20 November. The opinion, drafted by Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, President of the Assembly of Corsica, set out the first CoR position ahead of the presentation of the proposal for a post-2027 EU long-term budget by the European Commission.

Local and regional leaders pledged for an EU budget that is simpler and more agile, reducing red tape and the multiplication of funds that pursue the same objectives and facilitating the use of resources,

This simplification should be done acknowledging that Cohesion Policy alone is not enough to fight against territorial disparities. The entire EU budget should be more place based, strengthen economic, social, and territorial cohesion in Europe, thus complying with the so-called 'do no harm to cohesion' principle.

The new long-term budget should be based on clear policy objectives and ensure that local and regional authorities are involved in the decision-making process, building on a culture of trust between the different layers of government and in accordance with the so-called active subsidiarity, partnership principle and multilevel governance.

Moreover, the next EU long-term budget must adapt to the current reality, giving national and regional authorities the needed support during crisis, such as the recent deadly floods in Spain, while preserving long-term investments in social and territorial cohesion.

Therefore, the CoR called for an EU budget post-2027 that includes an enlarged emergency fund or a general flexibility reserve. This would avoid, as it happened numerous times in the past, that the European Commission relies on repeated redeployment and reprograming from existing funds such as Cohesion Policy to finance emerging challenges or unforeseen emergencies. The request is further stressed in an urgent resolution to be adopted on 21 November at the CoR plenary.

Opposition to more centralised EU programmes

Regions and cities vehemently opposed the increasing centralisation of EU funding programmes, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, which has led to an increase in the administrative burden for regional managing authorities and a lack of flexibility to adapt the policy to regional needs. New instruments like the post COVID-19 pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility cannot automatically be considered the best model in terms of governance of EU multiannual programmes post-2027.

The lack of involvement of cities and regions in the preparation and implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans should not be replicated after 2027. Likewise, their involvement will be critical to ensuring that the forthcoming Competitiveness Fund addresses territorial specificities.

The European Parliament's co-rapporteurs for the post-2027 EU long-term budget, Siegfried Mureșan (RO/EPP) and Carla Tavares (PT/S&D), took the floor during the plenary debate before the vote on the opinion stressing the importance of involving regional and local governments in the designing and implementation of the EU long-term budget in order to make it more effective. The CoR stands ready to support the European Parliament's repeated efforts to make the negotiations on the post-2027 budget more democratic and strongly regrets the lack of structured dialogue with local and regional governments, as well as with civil society, on this topic.

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Rapporteur Marie-Antoinette MAUPERTUIS(FR/EA), President of Corsica regional assembly: "The EU Budget is the key tool to make the 'right to stay' a reality, ensuring that whether you come from an island or a city, you have the freedom to choose where to live in the future. Being the biggest investment programme in the world, it should not only facilitate the mobility of people, goods and services across the EU but also empower local communities. Regions and cities must be fully involved in the decision-making process, with easier access to funding and less red tape. We are proposing measures to streamline the budget, avoid overlaps and ensure that every euro reaches the communities it aims to support. Cohesion and active subsidiarity must remain at the heart of EU investments."

More information

• The current long-term budget of the European Union, known as Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), worth around €1.2 trillion and runs from 2024 to 2027. The European Commission is due to present its proposal for the post-2027 long-term EU budget by 1 July 2025.
• On 14 October, Ms Maupertuis presented the CoR opinion to the members of the Committee for Budget of the European Parliament. Rewatch the meeting (from min 17:00:00).
• On 21 November, the European Committee of the Regions will vote the opinion 'A renewed Cohesion Policy post-2027 that leaves no one behind', drafted by the co-rapporteurs Vasco Alves Cordeiro (PT/PSE), CoR President, and Emil Boc (RO/EPP), Chair of the CoR commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget.