EPP/CoR Plenary in Focus, October 2016

Plenary October 2016

Priorities of the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions

Overview of the October Plenary Session events in the European Union, and Europe’s local and regional leaders have a special role in bridging the Union closer to its citizens.

The EU should be able to produce tangible results on the everyday lives of its citizens and thus increase the trust towards the European project. The EPP has been and is the central engine for the creation and development of the EU and our Members are keen to share their experiences and knowledge to help strengthen our common Union.

MEP Danuta Maria Hübner (EPP/PL), Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs The October Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions will be launched with the opening session of the European Week of Regions and Cities on Monday October 10th – more information can be found on the last page of this edition. The actual Plenary Session begins on Tuesday 11th with a debate on Reflections on the EU – Present and future with Danuta Maria Hübner, Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs. The debate is extremely timely considering the past

European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip, EU Commissioner for a Connected Digital Single Market, will also join our Members connected to the three opinions on the eGovernment Action Plan (Andreassen EPP/SE), Digitising European Industry ­(McCarthy EA/IE)­­and the European Cloud Initiative (Karjalainen PES/ FI) opinions. The completion of the Digital Single Market would be an essential tool in creating more growth and jobs in Europe and the opinions stress the digitalisation of both public and private sector for fostering innovation and effectiveness.

Cohesion Policy is one of the few EU instruments to have a direct, concrete and

tangible impact on citizens’ quality of life through hundreds of thousands of projects implemented all over Europe. The opinion on the Simplification of ESIF from the perspective of Local and Regional Authorities (Osvald PES/ CZ) states that ESIF should undergo a process to increase its effectiveness and added value, with the aim not only of achieving the EU’s targets and the Europe 2020 strategy, but also benefiting the citizens and thus improving their perception of the EU. Perhaps one of the most important ways of achieving this is by simplifying the overall ESIF implementation system and increasing its flexibility.

Stability and coordination within and outside the EU is one of the CoR political priorities for 2015-2020 and the review of the European Neighbourhood Policy (Quart PES/DE) emphasises that local and regional authorities their associations must be involved in every phase of implementing the ENP – from programming to democratic control.

On the final day of the Plenary Session, the focus is on sustainability and climate change, in addition to the opinion on establishing a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (Duppré EPP/DE). Both the delivery on the global climate agreement with a view on the COP22 in Marrakesh (Pigliaru PES/IT) as well as the opinion on the EU action plan for the Circular Economy (Winter PES/DE) touch upon pressing environmental issues for cities and regions. A majority of climate change mitigating action takes place on the grass roots level and the inclusion of local and regional authorities in the action against climate change has become a fundamental feature. Circular economy has been one of the key packages of the Juncker Commission and the CoR opinion recommends ambitious legislative provisions together with support so that regions and cities can fully adopt the policy.

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EPP group meeting – October 11th in regions and cities with Wilhelm Molterer, EFSI Managing Director.

Investment and the European Fund for Strategic Investments will be the focus of the EPP group meeting when the Members will have a chance to discuss boosting investment

Opinions at Upcoming Plenary

Hans-Jörg Duppré, President of Südwestpfalz County, EPP/DE ECON-VI/012

The topic is a key priority of the European Committee of the Regions and both the Bratislava Declaration of “Invest and Connect” and the ECON Commission Opinion “Bridging the Investment Gap: How to Tackle the Challenges” - with CoR President Markku Markkula as the rapporteur - aim to address the issue from the grass roots level point of view.

The interplay and synergies between the EFSI and Cohesion policy will surely rise as a

topic. Already in the EPP Political Assembly, arranged in the CoR premises on September 6th, EPP-CoR President Michael Schneider stressed the importance to avoid playing the EFSI and the structural funds against each other: “We need to combine the strengths of these two instruments and see how they complement each other, as both serve the same purpose of creating sustainable growth and jobs. It is too easy to say that the structural funds do not deliver results – this narrative is false. The funds work but we need to solve the problems arising from overregulation and red tape”.

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Establishing a European Deposit Insurance Scheme After the economic and financial crisis, the European Commission has launched several proposals to strengthen the economic and financial governance in the European Union to regain trust in its financial institutions. The European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) is a part of the Banking Union, intended to secure the deposits within banks.

While welcoming the intent to strengthen the Banking Union, the opinion stresses the need to first see the full implementation of the existing regulation as well as conducting an impact assess-

ment on the effects of the legislative proposal to prevent the risk of significant costs and negative outcome.

The opinion calls for the possibility to maintain the diversity of different types of banking and financial institutions, and especially secure the viability of local and regional public banks that often play a major role in building and maintaining basic infrastructure and financing SMEs and microbusinesses.

into account as a complement to the deposit scheme. Moreover, the priority of the EDIS should be the promotion of a sound financial policy while making sure that the banks' contributions in the Scheme reflect the riskiness of their business.

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To regain the trust of the European citizens, risks of failure should be minimized before they can be communinitised and thus shared between the financial institutes and the Member States.“

The existing institutional protection schemes should also be taken

EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 – Accelerating the digital transformation of government The modernisation of the public sector is one of the main political priorities of the European Committee of the Regions and the opinion on the eGovernance Action Plan aims to ensure a simpler, more efficient and transparent administration for the benefit of Europe's cities and regions.

Martin Andreasson, Member of Västrä Götaland Regional Council, EPP/SE SEDEC- VI/013

The aim of the Action Plan is to remove existing digital barriers to the single market and prevent further fragmentation arising from the modernisation of public administration. Local and regional authorities should become

the drivers for this new development as they are at the heart of the proposal.

Digitalising the public administration makes the public services also more accessible while supporting the development of cross-border services. The opinion supports the vision that by 2020 public administrations and institutions should be open, efficient, inclusive and providing borderless, personalised, user-friendly, end-to-end digital public services to all citizens and businesses in the EU.

The opinion however emphasises that there are many preconditions that must be met before the benefits of eGovernment can be obtained: affordable internet across the European Union, enhanced digital skills, trust and openness towards digital services as well as a fully functioning Digital Single Market.

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It is not a question of whether to digitalise or not this is a necessity and a game changer to overcome many of our challenges in the public sector and improve the quality and efficiency of our services."

A visit to the Diavata Refugee Relocation Camp or another on their perilous journey to Europe.

By Barry Ward, Councillor of Dún LaoghaireRathdown County, EPP-CoR Alternate Member At the same time that EU national leaders were meeting in Bratislava midSeptember, European People’s Party (EPP) local government members met in northern Greece to discuss how the EU should respond to the migration crisis. Part of this conference included a visit to the Diavata Refugee Relocation Camp, outside Thessaloniki, where there was a first-hand opportunity to see some of the conditions migrants arriving in the European Union are facing, and to hear their concerns.

Renovated at the request of the Greek Ministry of the Interior, Diavata is a former military barracks that is being used to accommodate migrants who have arrived on some of Greece’s many islands. It opened its doors on the 24th of February this year and is now home to about 1,000 men, women and children, mostly from Syria, Kurdistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. The camp comprises approximately of 200 shelters and is intended to cater primarily for families, so there are roughly as many women as men, but almost half the residents are children. There are also about 30 unaccompanied minors living in Diavata – young people who have tragically lost their parents in one way

The number of children is immediately obvious when you arrive in Diavata; they come in their droves, from the very young to teenagers, interested in new visitors, and surprisingly engaged, despite the fact that Diavata has no official school for them. The average age in Diavata is under 20 years old and the fact that the people miss their home countries is obvious to see: children’s graffiti with the words “I miss you Syria” in English and Arabic, murals shouting “Save Aleppo”, and residents holding up signs asking why the Afghan people have been “forgeten”.

The plight of these people is obvious and the conditions in which they are surviving every day are undoubtedly substandard. Diavata, which is served by the UNHCR and other charities, is one of the more ordered camps, having relocated migrants from the islands to a renovated, mainland site.

But you can’t help getting the feeling that the Greeks are doing their best in an impossible situation. It is now estimated that 11 million people have been displaced from their homes by the conflict in Syria alone, and Greece is one of the first points of entry into the European Union for many migrants.

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EU regions hand over Declaration on the Future of Regional Policy post-2020 to Commissioner Creţu and Chair of EP REGI Committee Mihaylova

EU regions hand over Declaration on the Future of Regional Policy post-2020 to Commissioner Creţu and Chair of EP REGI Committee Mihaylova Declaration signed by 334 regions across Europe calling for the prolongation of regional funding for all regions and the preservation of an own EU-policy for regions beyond 2020 was given to the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu and MEP Iskra Mihaylova, REGI Committee Chair yesterday by the representatives of EU’s regions and cities.

This Europe-wide bottom-up regional initiative at the highest political level was complimented by a conference on the Contribution of Europe’s Regions to Managing our Future, organised in the premises of the European Committee of the Regions.

Moderating the event, EPP-CoR Group President and CoR’s rapporteur on the Future of the Cohesion Policy beyond 2020, Michael Schneider expressed his gratitude for such a

strong, joint voice of many local and regional representatives: “Today is a big day for the EU regions. The presence of so many and the support for the paper on Cohesion Policy show our unity. The debate on the future Cohesion Policy will not only be led by its friends but also its opponents. Our position is that Cohesion Policy represents the diversity in Europe. The Commission defines the legal framework and rules, but the regions and cities decide where to invest. The question should be how to improve it in the future”.

CoR President Markku Markkula, opening the event, stressed that “for every euro invested through the previous programming period of Cohesion Policy, 2.74 euros will be generated by 2023 - a return of 1 trillion euros. So we must be in no doubt that Cohesion Policy is worth every cent”.

A message warmly welcomed by the main organiser behind the initiative, CoR Member Erwin Pröll, Minister-President of Lower Austria: “It is an honour and clear sign that so many regions, authorities and interregional organisations have joined this initiative as equal partners. The signatures and travelling of so many regional political representatives from all Member States to Brussels is the visible proof of the extraordinary importance of EU Regional Policy for all regions. Considered in a democratic Europe, both of these elements are binding on both EU legislators, the Council and Parliament in their future decisions on the multiannual financial framework post 2020”.

Witold Stępień, Marshal of Łódzkie region from Poland raised a call for more bottom-up approach in the new framework: “While planning the shape of the new regulations, we need to secure also their mechanisms, thanks to which Cohesion Policy implementation is done with respect to principle of subsidiarity - one of the cornerstones of the EU. Regions must retain the power to prepare and manage their operational programs, in spite of the possible snares of some central governments.”

The future of EU Cohesion Policy post-2020 will be discussed at the level of the EU institutions together with the prospects of the EU budget at the end of 2017/early 2018. These discussions are expected to be controversial and the main point the declaration strives to ensure that EU funding for all regions will be maintained as well as simplified also beyond 2020.

The volume of the current funding is approximately 350 billion euros, representing one third of the EU budget and especially targeted on the less developed regions of the EU. The CoR, as the EU body representing the interests of the regions and cities, will actively take part in the negotiations through opinions and other work such as studies and conferences addressing the main decision-makers at EU level - the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The latter will most likely decide on the related financial and legislative framework before 2020.

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European Week of Regions and Cities – 10-13 October

The 14th European Week of Regions and Cities or EUWRC – formerly known as Open Days – organised by the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission focuses on sustainable and inclusive growth in its 2016 edition. The week has attracted over 6.000 visitors in the previous years, making it the biggest event organised by the EU institutions and also the biggest local and regional event in the world.

This year, some 100 events, seminars and workshops are centred on the following strands: Sustained and sustainable economic growth: What are the new opportunities for

regions and cities to foster growth and jobs given the internationalisation of Europe's economies? And what are the main factors attracting new productive investment in the 21st century? This strand will consider which regions and cities are currently the more successful in drawing new investments and why.

It will look specifically at the new opportunities linked to innovation with particular reference to energy efficiency, developing the lowcarbon economy and promoting the circular economy as well as smart specialisation.

Inclusive economic growth: How are labour market and social inclusion policies for disad-

vantaged sections of the population developed and implemented at local level? What are the measures for the creation of micro-businesses or small enterprises and for facilitating an environment which is more ‘self-employment friendly’? This strand will also allow regions and cities to share their experiences in tackling the refugee crisis, including through the use of EU funds.

Making ESI Funds simpler: What can be learned from experience and good practices of regional and national authorities implementing programmes supported under European Structural and Investment Funds? How can programme management be more efficient and more effective, how can it be simplified?

How to build administrative and executive capacity? This strand will also examine best practice in urban development, integrated territorial investment programmes and community-led local development.

Opening session of the European Week of Regions and Cities The opening session is a part of the Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions and this year, the Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu, President of the European Committee of the Regions, Markku Markkula, and Vice President of the European Parliament, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, will engage in a debate with the Members, MEPs and the audience on the expectations and experiences from the ground on Cohesion Policy as well as on the role of cities as engines for growth and jobs.

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EPP-CoR workshop Europe’s demographic– from challenges to local and regional opportunities Demographic change is a major challenge facing Europe’s regions and cities. It affects the sustainability of pension systems and dictates the evolution of the welfare state, due to pressure on health and social care systems.

While the characteristics of some areas or regions mean they will be affected later or to a

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lesser extent, it is indisputable that the effects will be felt across the entire EU. Looking to the future, the situation seems even bleaker with population projections from Eurostat forecasting even greater age dependency ratios.

Despite these challenges, The EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions

organises a workshop during the European Week of Regions and Cities on October 12th aims to turn the perception of demographic change on its head by showcasing European regions and cities that are turning the challenges of ageing populations, low birthrates and new arrivals into opportunities. ■

Secretary General: Heinz-Peter Knapp Editors-in-chief: Saara Mattero, saara.mattero@cor.europa.eu, +32 2 282 2373 Dominik Krakowiak, dominik.krakowiak@cor.europa.eu, +32 2 282 2539 www.epp.cor.europa.eu

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