Strengthening the results orientation of post-2027 cohesion policy – challenges, risks and opportunities

Key points

The EESC:

• strongly supports the continuation of EU cohesion policy, deeming the reasons behind it to be clear, rational and legitimate. On the other hand, it recognises that cohesion policy has to be modernised and adjusted, reflecting development trends and needs;
• believes that the existing share of the EU budget for cohesion policy should not be reduced in the next MMF, but instead it should be increased;
• recommends managing cohesion policy in future according to the following principles: partnership (including the active contribution of organised civil society); shared management (balanced participation among EU, national and regional authorities); multi-level governance (including regions, cities, local authorities and stakeholders); place-based approach (implementing a bottom-up approach); thematic concentration (being interlinked via the process of the European Semester); territorial targeting (also based on the regional specificities); result orientation (that there are real and quantified benefits); simplification (of the rules and procedures) and social conditionalities for the investments financed;
• believes that in a future, result-oriented cohesion policy, geopolitical challenges should be clearly considered, investment in capacity building is needed and the partnership principle is consolidated;
• stresses that making a result-based approach a core principle will contribute to a more efficient allocation of limited cohesion policy resources and bring visible and transparent benefits;
• believes that the obligations arising from the introduction of a results-based approach should not be added to the existing control and audit processes for verifying the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of expenditure on projects financed by cohesion funds;
• is deeply convinced that, despite all the necessary changes to cohesion policy’s content and orientation, the core of the policy must remain regions and their specific development and resilience needs, while also seeking to reduce inequalities;
• believes that more attention should be paid to social investments, including housing, as structural ingredients for territorial development, to access to quality public services and to demographic challenges;
• recommends creating a transparent policy environment with a clearly defined position for specific stakeholders, including representatives of organised civil society;
• is aware of the system’s complexity, which needs to be greatly simplified and made more transparent;
• underlines that, especially in the current and upcoming period of economic and social development in the EU, convergence and sustainable competitiveness are not contradictory.