9.6.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 185/1

—

the European Commission communication on its work programme for 2017 of 25 October 2016;

—

its resolutions of 4 June 2015 on its priorities for 2015-2020 and of 15 June 2016 on the contribution to the European Commission work programme for 2017;

—

the Protocol of cooperation with the European Commission of February 2012;

1.

notes with concern that, 60 years after it was founded, the European Union is in the midst of a deep crisis, with continuing low levels of confidence in the European project and needs to reform; at the same time highlights that, year after year, the local and regional levels are considered by EU citizens to be the most trustworthy of all levels of governance in the EU. The CoR is therefore engaging in citizens’ dialogues, with the active participation of local and regional leaders, on topics arising from local needs and characteristics, and is thus contributing to the reflection on Europe;

2.

agrees with the Commission that the general challenges facing the EU are:

3.

while sharing the Commission’s conviction that these challenges require a bottom-up, citizen-led and multilevel governance approach, underlines that EU action must focus on empowering citizens;

4.

stresses the need to involve local and regional government in the preparations for the White Paper on the Future of Europe and urges the Commission to consider the CoR opinions on this topic and to involve the CoR in the consultation phase;

5.

regrets that the work programme pays scant attention to the essential role played by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) in reaching all citizens and regions in Europe, strengthening cohesion, promoting innovation and expressing genuine European solidarity for the harmonious development of the EU as a whole. Calls on the Commission to prepare the future of cohesion policy beyond 2020 as this is the EU’s main investment policy and must be based on a place-based approach and an updated territorial vision; in parallel, the CoR encourages the Commission to continue its efforts to improve and simplify ESIF procedures in order to cut red tape and help increase absorption;

6.

reiterates its request not to consider public spending by Member States and local and national bodies arising from co-financing under the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds as part of structural expenditure defined by the Stability and Growth Pact, since investments of this kind contribute to European priorities, with an additional leverage effect on economic growth in Europe;

7.

welcomes the proposed extension of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in terms of both duration and financial capacity, but notes that this announcement has been made without a comprehensive impact assessment or an independent evaluation prior to the Commission’s proposal; underlines the need to continue building on synergies between EFSI and other EU funds, in particular ESIF, and simplifying procedures so as to cut red-tape and help increase the absorption of EU funds; stresses that the third pillar of the Investment Plan should also be strengthened; calls on the Commission and the European Investment Bank to step up their efforts to raise awareness on the ground, to address the geographical imbalances of EFSI in order to optimise investment integration and synergy with a view to single programming of cohesion policy interventions, and to make more detailed information publicly available regarding EFSI-financed projects, specifically highlighting their additionality;

8.

undertakes to contribute at an early stage to the discussion on the proposal for the future Multiannual Financial Framework beyond 2020, including the reform of own resources;

9.

calls for the speedy adoption of the ‘Omnibus Regulation’, with a view to boosting the impact and ensuring improved use of ESIF programmes already included in the current programming period;

10.

stresses the need to follow up on the implementation of the Urban Agenda for the EU and underlines the importance of mainstreaming the urban dimension into other EU policies; in this regard, reiterates its request for a White Paper on the Urban Agenda for the EU;

11.

reiterates its call for setting a European agenda on housing, which would address in a horizontal manner the up until now fragmented approach towards housing through sectoral policies such as the Urban Agenda, sustainable development, cohesion policy, competition policy or social initiatives such as the European Pillar on Social Rights;

12.

underlines the need for a code of conduct for local and regional authority involvement in the 2017 European Semester and calls for the Annual Growth Survey to be complemented by a territorial analysis, including a specific territorial chapter in the country reports, and for guidelines to be issued for Member States on the involvement of local and regional authorities in the National Reform Programmes;

13.

supports the Commission’s continued focus on investment, particularly by identifying measures to boost investment in the European Semester; in this respect, points to the Committee’s Bratislava Declaration ‘Invest and Connect’, which emphasises that local and regional growth driven by investment must be grounded in territorial development strategies, and stresses the importance of ensuring that public budgets supporting quality investments act in synergy with other financial sources at regional, local, national and European level;

14.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to continue working to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and stresses that Europe needs a long-term strategy to ensure smart, sustainable and inclusive growth providing direction for the European Semester; such a strategy should be built on the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy;

15.

welcomes the Commission’s focus on youth unemployment through the strengthening of the EU Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative and the launch of a European Solidarity Corps which should benefit from early, pro-active and credible involvement of local and regional authorities, youth organisations and civil society in general;

16.

is disappointed by the lack of initiatives to tackle long-term unemployment, including assessing forms of European-level unemployment insurance to supplement national systems in the event of an economic downturn and prevent an asymmetrical shock from turning into a structural handicap for the whole of Europe;

17.

asks that local and regional strengths and challenges, including divergent local and regional labour market needs, be taken into consideration in the new Skills Agenda for Europe and looks forward to working on a quality framework for apprenticeships and a proposal on increased mobility for apprentices;

18.

awaits the Commission’s proposal to better address the challenges of work-life balance, particularly in relation to the participation of women in the labour market;

19.

in the run up to the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018, intends to focus on culture and cultural heritage as well as on the EU’s international cultural relations, which are crucial components for strengthening European identity and promoting Europe’s fundamental values, social inclusion, innovation and intercultural dialogue as well as cultural and heritage tourism;

20.

underlines the need to see the Horizon 2020 mid-term review and the forthcoming consultation on the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation as one organic process, which needs to address the innovation divide in Europe; announces that the CoR will be making a timely contribution to the revision of the bio-economy action plan scheduled for 2017;

21.

notes that the White Paper on the Future of Europe will also include proposals on the future of EMU and would welcome reforms that enhance the democratic legitimacy of EMU governance;

22.

stresses that, in order to improve the social dimension of EMU, it is crucial to tackle social and also regional disparities; welcomes the Commission’s intention to propose a European Pillar of Social Rights setting out principles for a Union which is built on social justice and upholds the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

23.

welcomes the proposed review of the Stability and Growth Pact, but urges the Commission to take into account the need to make the Pact more growth-friendly, particularly with regard to investments conducive to growth; reiterates its earlier call for a full assessment of the territorial impact of the European statistical rules on public investment;

24.

welcomes the Commission’s commitment to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy within the framework of a comprehensive Energy Union policy, in conjunction with sound governance rules, appropriate innovation support measures and a review of electricity market design and further improvement of energy infrastructure in order to ensure interregional and cross-border connections and support for the decentralisation of energy systems as a step towards a sustainable and flexible internal market for energy;

25.

specifically recommends that EU policies in the area of electricity market design and renewable energy should be coordinated and balanced, paying due attention to local and regional concerns such as access to the grid for small-scale energy providers at the level of distribution grids;

26.

supports the implementation of the Paris Agreement and points out that bridging the gap between national commitments and the effort needed to limit global warming to well below 2 oC will require integrating the efforts of cities and regions into national commitments, as well as both horizontal and vertical coordination, including at EU and UNFCCC levels. The CoR therefore asks the Commission to support the CoR’s request to include this aspect in the Nationally Determined Commitments, to improve institutionalisation of NAZCA and the work of Climate Champions within the UNFCCC Secretariat, and to facilitate the sharing of experiences at local and regional level. The CoR also calls on the Commission to encourage research projects on cities, regions and climate change to contribute to the future work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;

27.

calls on the European Commission to work with the CoR to develop the concept of Regionally and Locally Determined Contributions to encourage action at the local and regional level to achieve targets agreed at COP21 in Paris;

28.

calls on the Commission to update its climate and energy objectives to reach a 50 % reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and to mainstream adaptation into policies and financing at all levels. The Commission should support voluntary initiatives promoting low carbon and resilient transition in cities and across regions. A clarification regarding the empowerment of regions and cities is needed in the Commission’s evaluation report on the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change;

29.

encourages the Commission to support the implementation of disaster risk reduction strategies in cities and regions, particularly in cross-border regions, and to ensure that EU investments uphold disaster risk reduction standards;

30.

welcomes the launch of the EU Platform for food waste and losses and calls on the Commission to take action in the field of food waste by setting an ambitious target for reducing food waste; this should be embedded into an EU-wide sustainable food systems strategy, including biodiversity protection, the environment, health, trade, resource and land management aspects, as well as the social and cultural values of food;

31.

calls on the Commission to take into consideration the CoR’s recommendations when implementing the Action Plan for a Circular Economy, and to present early in 2017 the planned revision of the Drinking Water Directive, the proposal for a regulation on minimum quality requirements for reused water, and the strategy on the use, reuse and recycling of plastic, which should set clear and ambitious targets for plastic littering and leaching; calls on the Commission to propose additional initiatives relating to the construction and demolition sector, eco-design provisions and the use of secondary raw materials, substances and components;

32.

is ready and willing to step up its cooperation with the Commission on the long-awaited actions on priority objective 4 of the European Union 7th Environment Action Programme (EAP) 2014-2020 through the Technical Platform for Cooperation on the Environment; regrets that the initiatives planned for 2017 are non-legislative, and reiterates its calls for a proposal for an EU directive that would establish compliance assurance provisions across the EU environmental acquis, and for a new directive on access to justice in environment matters;

33.

in line with the recent Cork 2.0 declaration, reiterates its request for a White Paper on rural areas to serve as a starting point for a post-2020 rural development policy, and calls for practical measures for the ‘rural proofing’ of EU policies given that rural areas are often neglected and disconnected from main policy developments;

34.

in the context of the preparations of the CAP beyond 2020, highlights the strong interconnection between rural development and agriculture, and calls therefore for supportive measures for family farms, in particular to tackle price volatility of agricultural products;

35.

will continue to work towards sustainable ocean governance for the benefit of European coastal and maritime regions and their marine and maritime economies; with the aim of inducing blue growth and jobs, the CoR will work closely with the regions and all stakeholders regarding governance and capacity building, meeting challenges in the food production chain, reducing pressure on the environment caused by illegal fishing practices and pollution, and marine knowledge, science and innovation;

36.

regrets that the Commission work programme for 2017 pays insufficient attention to health, when the Commission should support the Member States and their regions in their efforts to increase prevention, reform and optimise their health systems, particularly through eHealth solutions, and develop comprehensive strategies on demography;

37.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to bring forward measures to strengthen the Single Market in goods, particularly concerning mutual recognition and non-compliant products, and underlines the need to continue work on completing the single market for services, which is rightly an important focus of the Single Market Strategy;

38.

reiterates its call for the Single Market pillar to be included in the European Semester with a system of regular monitoring and evaluation;

39.

notes the Commission’ intention to stand up for Europe’s industry and highlights that European industrial competitiveness also depends on a competitive supply chain and that trade policy plays an important role in that regard;

40.

underlines the importance of creating smart regulation and reducing the administrative burden on SMEs, notably by further strengthening the REFIT programme and ensuring that the impact on SMEs is systematically taken into account when new rules are shaped;

41.

expresses its support for the establishment of a ‘Forum of collaborative economy cities’ with the CoR as a key interested party; by the same token, notes with regret the lack of any proposal to safeguard the rights in new forms of employment resulting from digitalisation;

42.

highlights the need for a review of the Decision and Framework on Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) and calls on the Commission to launch a public consultation in 2017 in order to enable regional and local authorities to present their point of view on the difficulties they face with State aid control when financing SGEI;

43.

stresses the key role played by an efficient procurement system in terms of the capacity of regional and local authorities to deliver on EU investment objectives and calls on the Commission to provide assistance to ensure full implementation of the Public Procurement Directives, and to assess the difficulties that regional and local authorities face when applying the Public Procurement Directives;

44.

reiterates its call for a renewed European tourism strategy under a dedicated budget line for tourism in the EU and urges both the Commission and the Member States to facilitate access to funding for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises;

45.

welcomes the Commission’s efforts to complete the implementation of the Digital Single Market Strategy, including through e-Procurement, and will provide its input through the newly established joint Participatory Broadband Platform; stresses the need for all European areas to benefit from the Digital Single Market, by having access to high-speed broadband connections;

46.

emphasises that migration is a complex, multilevel process, in which the countries, regions and cities of destination and of origin play important roles. It is important to promote enhanced dialogue and closer cooperation between the Member States and the institutions of both the EU and of the countries of origin and transit of migrants and their respective regional and local levels;

47.

therefore calls on the Commission to take into account the CoR’s recommendations on protecting refugees in their countries of origin and on the new framework for partnership agreements;

48.

calls for local and regional authorities to be supported when implementing the reform of the Common European Asylum System and the other EU instruments developed on the basis of the European Agenda on Migration, such as the revised provisions on legal migration and the action plan on integration; asks the Commission to include the CoR recommendations on integrating migrants in its mid-term review of the European Agenda on Migration; recalls that integration is a process based on both rights and duties;

49.

is concerned by the difficulties involved in monitoring the presence of unaccompanied minors and the risk of their falling prey to trafficking and exploitation; calls strongly for the implementation of inclusion and training programmes, both for the minors themselves and for the local and regional administrations dealing with their reception, and for the communities of origin of minors already established in the host country to be involved in ensuring that minors are able to live temporarily with host families or in properly equipped facilities where their social, emotional, and cognitive development can be supported;

50.

calls on the Commission to provide local and regional authorities with specific and practical information on funding possibilities for the reception and integration of migrants and reiterates its call for the promotion of direct access by local and regional authorities to relevant EU financing instruments;

51.

calls on the Commission to support local and regional authorities in developing prevention strategies to counter radicalisation, to continue to collect and publicise best practices on how to prevent radicalisation through policy-making at regional and local level, and to support city-to-city cooperation in addressing radicalisation;

52.

notes that the Commission intends to continue trade negotiations with the US, Japan, Mercosur, Mexico, Tunisia and the ASEAN countries as well as to seek new mandates to open negotiations with Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Chile, but considers that the Commission should make further efforts to demonstrate their added value;

53.

reiterates, specifically in view of the ambitious future trade agenda, that the Commission should accompany every significant initiative in the field of trade policy with territorial impact assessments;

54.

welcomes the fact that the EU Global Strategy explicitly calls for renewed external partnerships and states that the EU will support different paths to resilience in its neighbourhood, targeting the most acute cases of governmental, economic, societal and climate/energy fragility, as well as developing more effective migration policies for Europe and its partners;

55.

stresses the CoR’s contribution, through its joint consultative committees and working groups and the organisation of Enlargement Days with partners from the accession countries, to the Commission’s enlargement policy goal of fostering shared stability and prosperity with candidate and potential candidate countries;

56.

underlines that the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) can only have an enduring impact if it brings practical benefits to all beneficiaries, and emphasises that a balance must be maintained between the eastern and the southern neighbourhood; emphasises the role of local and regional authorities in entrenching democracy and the rule of law in society, urging that more support be provided for decentralisation reforms in the neighbourhood countries;

57.

emphasises that regional cooperation makes a significant contribution to global stability and urges the Commission to step up cooperation with the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) and the CoR’s Ukraine Task Force, especially when implementing regional programmes and new initiatives;

58.

stresses the need, when implementing the reviewed ENP, to give high priority to initiatives supporting decentralisation processes, twinning and administrative capacity building at sub-national level; draws attention to the Nicosia Initiative launched by the CoR in support of Libyan cities, and which has helped match needs with technical support to restore the capacity of Libyan municipalities as service providers; calls on the Commission to further support such forms of bottom-up cooperation and provide sufficient administrative and financial resources; reiterates the need to roll out new tools for capacity building in the accession and ENP countries to replace the former Local Administration Facility;

59.

supports the recent developments following the merger between the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and the Compact of Mayors to create the largest coalition of cities committed to climate action, and is prepared to use its international channels, contacts, counterparts and partnerships (ARLEM for Covenant South and Covenant Africa, CORLEAP for Covenant East, ICLEI and EU-China Urbanisation partnership for North America and South-East Asia, etc.) to further amplify efforts towards mitigation, adaptation and resilience to climate change and sustainable development challenges;

60.

asks the Commission to cooperate closely with the CoR in order to promote the specific concerns, experience and contributions of European cities in the new governance structure of the Global Covenant;

61.

welcomes the proposed New Partnership Framework with third countries and the new European External Investment Plan and calls for regional and local authorities to be involved in this process;

62.

urges the Commission to promote the active involvement of local and regional authorities in development cooperation during the negotiations on the reviewed European Consensus on Development and the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and on the post-Cotonou Agreement, which will be the focus of the CoR’s Assises of Decentralised Cooperation in March 2017;

63.

calls on the Commission to revise the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) regulation in order to simplify and improve the legal framework of this tool;

64.

welcomes the Commission’s REFIT initiative and in particular the proposal to assess transparency and democratic control of the procedures for delegated and implementing acts and for certain secondary acts;

65.

reiterates its call to include Territorial Impact Assessments in the impact assessment stage of new EU legislation where appropriate; suggests closer cooperation between the CoR and the Joint Research Centre’s newly-established Competence Centre of Territorial Policies when assessing the implementation of EU legislation;

66.

calls for increased transparency, cooperation and efficiency by the EU institutions and welcomes their shared commitment under the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-making to jointly set out broad objectives and priorities, particularly for legislative proposals; calls for the CoR to be included in all stages of the legislative process in order to fully harness its potential in the legislative cycle;

67.

expects ever closer cooperation with the Commission and the European Parliament in monitoring subsidiarity and on its 2017 Subsidiarity Conference;

68.

instructs its president to forward this resolution to the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU and the President of the European Council.