Ahead of the State of the Union address on 10 September, Renew Europe CoR underlined that the proposal by President Ursula von der Leyen for the new MFF undermines the very principles on which our European Union is built, putting its foundations and the Union’s future directly at risk.
The EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is not just a long-term budget, it is a political instrument that shapes how citizens perceive the EU and its investments on the ground, one of the most visible ways that citizens experience Europe in their daily lives.
Since the Maastricht Treaty, the investment plans of cohesion policy have always been developed together with the regional and local authorities that are responsible for identifying the local needs, and of carrying out the investments.
However, the European Commission has gone ahead with a proposal for the new MFF which will have the dangerous result of disconnecting the EU from its citizens, by removing any obligations by national governments to involve subnational authorities in the design and implementation of investments.
Renew Europe CoR believe the European Commission is breaking the direct link with the local and regional authorities that deliver EU policies on the ground. This is not a technical simplification, but a structural shift that destroys subsidiarity and multilevel governance.
As per a resolution approved at the 2016 ALDE Party Congress in Warsaw, two fundamental liberal principles are at the heart of Cohesion Policy: allowing citizens to decide how to govern and shape the local communities in which they live; and helping individuals accomplish their full potential by ensuring they have the necessary infrastructure and means at their reach.
For Renew Europe CoR, defending Cohesion Policy is not just a technical matter but a political imperative: it has been one of the most successful EU policies, strengthening competitiveness, reducing disparities, and bringing citizens closer to their Union.
Undermining this architecture risks weakening the Union at its core. As the most pro-European political family, Renew Europe CoR calls to ensure that the EU remains tangible in people’s daily lives by empowering the cities and regions that deliver the Union’s objectives on the ground.
Click here to download the letter written by Renew Europe CoR President François Decoster to all Renew Europe MEPs.