Committee of the Regions and Belgian Presidency team up to reinforce territorial cooperation
EU-funded territorial cooperation delivers concrete results for citizens and should be beefed up after current programmes expire in 2013, Committee of the Regions (CoR) members and Walloon Prime Minister Rudy Demotte underlined today.
Speaking at a conference organised by the Belgian Presidency in Tournai, CoR President Mercedes Bresso emphasised that territorial cooperation improves people's lives, for instance by providing joint transport or healthcare services in border regions. While these projects have become the "face of Europe" in many regions, the EU’s INTERREG funding schemes must also live up to new globalisation challenges, Bresso stated: "What we need in the future is a more strategic approach, improved governance – for instance through ‘territorial pacts’ between different levels of government - and cooperation also beyond the European continent."
In view of the difficult economic situation under which the future EU budget will be negotiated, President Bresso said: "We are well aware of the budget challenge. But we will not accept handouts to territorial cooperation in exchange for budget cuts somewhere else. We need sufficient funding to ensure that territorial cooperation and cohesion policy can continue to deliver added value for Europe."
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