#CohesionAlliance starts consultation on new declaration

​A strong cohesion policy for a cohesive, sustainable and resilient Europe

On the occasion of Europe Day on 9 May, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and #CohesionAlliance partner organisations launched a joint consultation on a renewed declaration in response to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 crisis. Interested organisations, institutions and individuals can contribute to the consultations until 30 May 2020.​

The #CohesionAlliance is a coalition of more than 12.000 signatories that calls for a reinforced EU cohesion policy within the Multiannual Financial Framework beyond 2020. After the outbreak of the Corona virus and the latest development of the social and economic crisis triggered by the pandemic, the Alliance’s partners believe that solidarity and coordinated action on an EU level is needed now more than ever to ensure that the gaps between more and less economically developed communities do not increase and no citizen or region in Europe is left behind.

The Cohesion Alliance is therefore taking a new step ahead to ensure that Cohesion is a key objective for all EU policies and investments and a crucial element in the EU recovery plan. This requires the involvement of regional and local actors in key decision and a stronger attention to the needs of regions, cities and villages, in all EU actions.  

“By investing in all of Europe’s people and places, we will all recover faster. Supporting those communities most in need, tackling disparities and accelerating sustainable green growth is not only a matter of fairness and equity, but of economic pragmatism. To achieve this, Europe needs a strong cohesion policy and the involvement of local actors as real partners in all its recovery plans. This is why, as #CohesionAlliance partners, we have decided to renew our commitment and start working on a new declaration. We want to reaffirm the value of cohesion in the post-pandemic scenario, and help build a new partnership among EU, national, regional and local actors“, said CoR president Apostolos Tzitzikostas.​

The CohesionAlliance partner organisations have put forward a draft proposal for a new declaration and invite all interested organisations, institutions, individuals and signatories to send in their comments, ideas and suggestions.

The final declaration will be shaped according to the consultation outcome and to the forthcoming proposals for a Multiannual Financial Framework beyond 2020 and the aligned EU Recovery Plan by the European Commission. The declaration will be launched by the partners of the Cohesion Alliance on the occasion of a new meeting of our Alliance by early June.

You can find the draft proposal in all languages on the #CohesionAlliance webpage. Please send your contributions by 30 May 2020 via e-mail to: cohesionalliance@cor.europa.eu

Background:

In October 2017 the European Committee of the regions launched the #CohesionAlliance in partnership with the leading associations of regions and cities – Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), the Assembly of European Regions (AER), the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) and EUROCITIES  – to raise awareness about the vital role of cohesion policy. Since its launch, the Alliance’s declaration has been signed by more than 12 000 individual signatories, 121 regions, 135 cities and counties, 50 associations of regional and local governments, 40 Members of the European Parliament and 35 EU sectoral associations.

Declaration available in all languages:

BG – HR – CS – DA – NL – EN – ET – FI – FR – DE – EL – HU – IT – LV – LT – MT – PL – PT – RO – SK – SL – ES – SV​

Contact:
Carmen Schmidle
Tel. +32 (0)494 735787
carmen.schmidle@cor.europa.eu​