10.2.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51/1

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having regard to the European Commission’s communication on its ‘Work programme 2016: No time for business as usual’ and to the cooperation agreement between the CoR and the European Commission,

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having regard to its resolutions of 9 July 2015 on the priorities for the 2016 work programme of the European Commission and of 4 June 2015 on its priorities for the sixth term of office 2015-2020,

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having regard to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality,

1.

welcomes the Commission’s proposals to put forward, on the basis of the mid-term review of Europe 2020 and the implementation of the United Nations sustainable developments goals (SDGs), a new strategy to apply the sustainability principle under Article 3(3) of the EU Treaty. Two potential options for this new strategy could be to include the SDGs either in a revised Europe 2030 strategy or in a new sustainability strategy;

2.

stresses that this endeavour needs a strong territorial dimension with local and regional authorities (LRAs) involved in its design and implementation, through the European Semester, to ensure effectiveness as well as democratic legitimacy and accountability; this claim correlates with the CoR’s call for a White Paper on territorial cohesion, based on the work of the Luxembourg Presidency in analysing the interplay between the territorial agenda 2020 and the Europe 2020 strategy also suggests in this context to make territorial impact assessments compulsory in the conduct of European Commission impact assessments;

3.

urges the European Investment Bank and the Commission to prioritise projects which involve local and regional authorities, including small and medium project clusters, and commits to promoting and monitoring the EFSI at local and regional level; notes that EFSI loans are not relevant in all countries, as the EFSI does not offer better lending conditions for local and regional authorities than those already available in some Member States;

4.

welcomes the Commission’s willingness to simplify the implementation of cohesion policy and considers that simplification efforts must take a holistic approach for both beneficiaries and managing authorities; the CoR will closely follow and contribute to the work of the High-Level Group on Simplification;

5.

urges the Commission to enter into an early dialogue with the CoR on the territorial aspects of the MFF review to ensure that all EU policies contribute to strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU;

6.

notes that gearing the EU budget towards results also requires an ambitious follow-up to the soon-to-be-expected conclusions of the High-Level Group on Own Resources. Given that the main impact of the EU budget is at local and regional level, LRAs must also — notably through the CoR — play a prominent role in the preparation of the substantial and comprehensive proposals for a revision of the EU budgetary system which the CoR expects the Commission to put forward in 2016;

7.

reiterates its encouragement to the Commission to relaunch the debate on ‘GDP and beyond’ and examine the need for and feasibility of developing complementary indicators for well-being and sustainable development;

8.

regrets that the Commission work programme 2016 does not make reference to the EU urban agenda, given the urgent need for a more integrated approach to EU policy and legislation in this area; reiterates in this regard its request for a White Paper on the EU urban agenda;

9.

calls on the Commission to consider the Luxembourg Presidency proposal for a ‘European Cross-Border Convention on specific provisions in cross-border regions’ and asks to be actively involved in the review of cross-border obstacles currently being prepared by the Commission;

10.

reiterates its call to the Commission to publish a Green Paper on mobility in geographically and demographically challenged regions;

11.

calls the Commission to issue a White Paper on rural areas, in order to develop the enormous jobs and growth potential of rural areas, including within an urban-rural context; reiterates the need for a simplification of the CAP; also looks forward to the report on the functioning of the milk market on which the CoR has already put forward very specific recommendations;

12.

calls on the Commission to have a clear action plan on blue growth and calls for the creation of a specific knowledge and innovation community for the blue economy as a further measure for the development of skills and the transfer of ideas from marine research to the private sector;

13.

supports the Commission’s efforts to facilitate the use of innovative financial instruments; underlines that such instruments need to be further simplified and urges the Commission to adopt in close dialogue with representatives of cities, regions, the EIB and social partners, all necessary legal solutions to avoid repeating the mistakes that occurred at the beginning of the 2007-2013 programming period;

14.

will carefully examine the new circular economy package, including its action plan and new legislative proposal amending EU waste legislation and its impact on LRAs;

15.

calls on the Commission to encourage greater European cooperation in the energy field and explicitly recognises the role and contribution of local and regional authorities in Energy Union policies, especially as regards renewable, micro-production of energy, energy efficiency, the implementation of the internal energy market, energy infrastructure and diversification policies, as well as innovative energy technology; expresses its willingness to be actively involved in the Energy Infrastructure Forum and cooperate with the European energy regulators;

16.

calls on the Commission to take into account the views and expectations of consumers, as well as the experience and best practices of local and regional authorities when developing the new energy market design structure; declares its readiness to contribute actively to the work of the Citizen’s Energy Forum;

17.

welcomes the fact that the Commission is promoting an initiative, albeit non-legislative, for Europe’s space strategy and hopes that it will support the space technology market so as to foster the creation of SMEs in this sector; in this regard, calls for greater involvement of local and regional authorities in the planning and implementing phases of Europe’s space strategy;

18.

asks the Commission to support local and regional initiatives in the campaign for ‘risk resilient cities’, led by the United Nations through its ‘Sendai Framework’ and reiterates its call to the Commission to firmly embed resilience-building into its development policies; action now would be far more cost-efficient than trying to build resilience to infrastructure that is already built;

19.

welcomes the Commission’s decision to merge the management of the Covenant of Mayors and the Mayors Adapt initiatives and declares its readiness to actively contribute to enlarging and promoting the new Integrated Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy worldwide; reiterates, however, that other local and regional forms of cooperation on climate and energy issues should not be neglected;

20.

regrets the lack of a clear reference in the work programme to the general Union environment action programme to 2020, as adopted by the European Parliament and the Council (1); calls in particular on the Commission to implement its priority Objective 4 on maximising the benefits of EU environmental legislation by improving implementation; welcomes the envisaged REFIT initiative on environmental reporting, but reiterates its call for a new directive on access to justice in environment matters, and for a proposal on environmental inspections and enforcement (2);

21.

notes with concern that the demographic change, socioeconomic crisis and geographically concentrated migratory flows can amplify already existing health inequalities between European regions and become a challenge to effective, accessible and resilient health systems and calls on the Commission to commission a study looking into these compounding factors and ways in which European regions can change this challenge into an opportunity;

22.

calls on the Commission to take action in the field of food waste by setting a target of at least 30 % food waste reduction by 2025, particularly as many local and regional authorities across Europe need guidance and legal certainty when implementing measures and initiatives to reduce food waste;

23.

reiterates its calls for EU measures, financing arrangements and priorities to take into account the accumulative impact of small and medium-sized towns and cities given that approximately 56 % of towns and cities are small and medium in size with populations of between 5 000 and 100 000;

24.

urges the Commission to swiftly bring forward its proposed initiatives for delivering the single market strategy; underlines that the territorial impact of related measures should be fully assessed;

25.

highlights that the implementation of the digital single market is key for local and regional authorities; calls on the European Commission to report regularly on progress made in overcoming the digital divide, particularly at regional and local level;

26.

welcomes the European Commission’s intention to revise the Audiovisual and Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and asks that the regional dimension and specifications are taken into account;

27.

stresses the need for a strategy to support the development of ICT infrastructure, in particular in rural and remote regions and, more generally, in regions whose development is lagging behind, bearing in mind that broadband and ultra-fast broadband connectivity services can be a powerful growth stimulus;

28.

welcomes the Commission’s focus on releasing the potential of the collaborative or sharing economy and expects the Commission to present proposals soon for a coordinated approach on the rules applicable to it, taking into account the important role of LRAs and the need to ensure the rights of consumers;

29.

supports the Commission’s efforts to tackle regulatory obstacles for SMEs and start-ups and welcomes its intention to propose an initiative to give a second chance to entrepreneurs after bankruptcy; stresses the important contribution of regional and local authorities to the emergence of strong entrepreneurial ecosystems and thus underlines the need to integrate them in the governance of SME policy and notably in the network of SME envoys;

30.

invites the Commission to continue its efforts to establish a Capital Markets Union, and reiterates the need for minimising the administrative burden resulting from future regulatory actions and avoiding excessive risk-taking and instability in financial markets;

31.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to present an action plan on VAT, to implement international standards on base erosion and profit shifting and to clarify, in the framework of the 2016 review of the EU VAT Directive, the conditions under which the non-taxation of inter-municipal cooperation arranged under public law and outside the scope of public procurement law can be regarded as consistent with EU law;

32.

takes note of the Commission’s announcement to withdraw its current proposal on a Common consolidated corporate tax base which the CoR had welcomed but wonders to what extent the Commission’s intention to replace it by ‘proposals for a step-by-step approach towards an obligatory corporate tax base’ pre-empts the outcome of the ongoing public consultation on the topic;

33.

deeply regrets the lack of explanation for the European Commission’s decision to postpone the adoption of the labour mobility package, meant to be one of the Commission’s flagship initiatives to tackle social dumping and social tourism, and strengthen social rights in Europe and which should, according to the CoR, contain a revision of the Directive on the posting of workers;

34.

awaits the Commission’s proposal to better address the challenges of work-life balance, in particular in relation to the participation of women in the labour market, notably by reviewing the 2010 directive on parental leave, by unblocking the institutional deadlock with regard to the Maternity Leave Directive and by presenting a concrete strategy for achieving gender equality in the EU;

35.

calls on the Commission to propose a revision of the Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to carcinogens and mutagens at work and a Directive on work-related musculoskeletal disorders;

36.

underlines that the new skills agenda for Europe should focus on renewed efforts to modernise the European higher education systems, as well as proposals to ensure that all individuals in the EU have the right and the possibility to reach a minimum level of education and skills, to achieve excellence and stimulate innovation in education and in vocational education and training (VET), promoting education of digital skills and the role of education against youth radicalisation;

37.

welcomes the Commission’s willingness to improve the democratic accountability of the EU’s economic governance system, which would not be complete without involving sub-national authorities;

38.

calls on the Commission to assess the impact of the new ESA 2010 rules on the ability of local and regional authorities to invest;

39.

takes note of the Commission’s initiatives regarding the transition from phase 1 to phase 2 of the completion of the EMU, including the white paper planned for spring 2017; stresses that a separate decision must be taken on every step of the implementation process;

40.

stresses that, to improve the social dimension of the EMU, it is crucial to tackle regional disparities; points out that regional disparity indicators should be added to the EMU social indicators scoreboard;

41.

considers that multi-level governance makes it possible to address the protection of fundamental rights in practice and contributes to the process of building and safeguarding a citizens’ Europe;

42.

considers that mutual trust is essential for effective cross-border law enforcement, given that terrorism and radicalisation, organised crime and cybercrime are transnational by nature and require an EU response; welcomes the Commission’s commitment to pay increased attention to developing the operational cooperation and tools that are needed in this regard;

43.

notes the focus on the principles of solidarity and responsibility in the European agenda on migration and its implementing initiatives; underlines that these principles and the respect for human rights as well as the capacities of local and regional governments should be at the centre of all EU policies on migration, as well as in their adoption and implementation by the Member States;

44.

notes the increase in EU funding to deal with the refugee crisis and calls for an analysis to be carried out by the Commission to the added-value and scale of its use, particularly for local and regional authorities; stresses the need for more urgency in the provision and allocation of funds for the management of migration and integration; urges the Commission to ensure that local and regional authorities that are currently receiving and hosting refugees are urgently provided with the necessary financial resources to meet the refugees’ immediate needs;

45.

welcomes the announcement of initiatives to remedy the weaknesses of the EU asylum regulations and to present a coherent long-term, EU-wide system of relocation and resettlement; welcomes in this connection plans to further develop the Dublin Regulation in order to share the burden more fairly on the basis of fixed and fair quotas; stresses that the consensually agreed provisions of the Dublin procedure remain in force and that all EU Member States have to comply with EU admission and procedure standards;

46.

stresses the urgent need for better protection of the EU’s external borders; stresses that any measures that jeopardise the principle of free movement within the Schengen area should be avoided; acknowledges, however that in exceptional circumstances it is possible to carry out checks at its internal borders in order to safeguard the area of freedom, security and justice; urges the Commission to also consider the need for future initiatives to facilitate the integration of refugees, for example by setting up ‘Migration and integration partnerships’ between LRA in the countries of origin and countries of destination;

47.

notes the Commission proposal for a list of safe countries of origin and commits to engaging in designing policies and exchanging best practices at regional and local level through its joint consultative committees and working groups, involving all seven countries listed on the EC proposal;

48.

invites the Commission to design effective return policies to be implemented swiftly and in respect of the dignity and fundamental rights of those migrants who are ineligible for asylum and can be safely returned. This is necessary to ensure that resources can be focused on those in real need and to help avoid creating further social conflicts which may pave the way to extremism;

49.

welcomes the Commission’s proposal to introduce a new investment court system for the TTIP and all other ongoing and future trade negotiations; specifically welcomes that the new proposal enshrining the right of governments to regulate, but nevertheless calls for further detailed clarifications on how this will improve the situation as compared with the current ISDS mechanism;

50.

urges the Commission to undertake impact assessments of the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of trade agreements, including on SMEs, consumers, specific economic sectors, human rights and on developing countries before opening trade negotiations; in particular underlines the need to clarify if and when TTIP may impact local public services;

51.

regrets the continued omission of the regional and local dimension in trade negotiations and calls on the Commission to correct this in its new trade and investment strategy; in this context calls on the Commission to involve the CoR in the TiSA negotiation process, in particular by granting the CoR similar access to negotiation documents as for TTIP;

52.

stresses the urgency to find a peaceful resolution to conflicts in Libya, Syria and Ukraine. It offers the involvement of local and regional authorities within the people-to-people diplomacy; reaffirms its readiness to work towards implementation of the reform on decentralisation in Ukraine and proposes strengthening the bonds of cooperation between European and Libyan local and regional authorities targeting capacity building and territorial development, including prior to the full implementation of an overarching internal agreement;

53.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to provide a more focused framework to support the stabilisation and democratic development of partner countries within the new European neighbourhood policy; stresses that the new policy must adopt a territorial approach and incorporate support for the process of decentralisation in its strategic objectives; commits itself to contribute to that approach through its two cooperation platforms, namely the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) and the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (Corleap);

54.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to continue to work towards the concretisation of the accession perspective of the EU candidate countries; urges the Commission to examine in greater detail the situation of regional and local self-government in the enlargement countries in the context of its enlargement progress reports which would be the focus of the joint consultative committees’ (JCCs) and working groups’ (WGs) work;

55.

welcomes the proposed post-Cotonou policy and the Commission’s intention to increase external policy coherence; insists on the need to develop local democracy and administrative capacity in development policy and of promoting regional integration in and decentralised development cooperation with partner zones;

56.

calls on the Commission, when considering the responses to public consultations, to take account of the different origins of the various contributions, and make a distinction between contributions representing specific interests and those representing general interests, which include contributions from local and regional authorities; stresses the importance of taking account of this difference in scope, including for the purposes of assessing the need to carry out a territorial impact assessment regarding specific legislative proposals;

57.

stresses that local and regional authorities can play a crucial role in identifying administratively burdensome EU rules including those that may be caused when rules are being transposed and implemented; reiterates its call for referring to the CoR’s contribution to the legislative process within the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Regulation, given the CoR’s privileged institutional role with regard to the principle of subsidiarity and the territorial impact of the EU’s legislation;

58.

re-emphasises its call for an exemption for democratically-elected representatives of regional and local authorities and their representative associations from the rules of the EU transparency register intended to regulate access to EU institutions for lobbyists;

59.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to expand the ‘Citizens’ Dialogues’ and its determination to bridge the gap between the EU and its citizens; reiterates that it will continue to promote transparency and democratic accountability in the EU decision-making process as well as decentralised communication on EU policies impacting LRAs in order to increase the legitimacy of the EU and its legislation;

60.

follows with great interest the revision of the Regulation on the European Citizens’ Initiative and stresses that a comprehensive revision is needed in order for this instrument to fulfil its potential role and merits;

61.

instructs the President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the European Parliament, the Council and the President of the European Council.