8.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 164/1

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the European Commission Work Programme (CWP) for 2018 (COM(2017) 650 final);

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its resolution of 22 March 2017 on the contribution to the CWP for 2018;

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

1.

emphasises the urgent need for an EU long-term strategy which would succeed the Europe 2020 Strategy, aimed at ensuring sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth, and provide direction for the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the European Semester, and the EU’s policies as part of a systemic approach. Considering that the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide the framework for such a strategy, suggests that the presentation of the overall EU strategy on implementing the SDGs take place in close conjunction with that of the MFF proposals. Underlines in this respect the critical role of the EU Urban Agenda for the implementation of the SDGs and invites the Commission to take on board the relevant CoR recommendations;

2.

stresses that the future EU budget should be capable of responding to emerging challenges and maintaining traditional EU policies with proven European Added Value. Rejects scenarios such as those presented in the Reflection Paper on the Future of EU Finances whereby, in relative terms and taking into account the impact of Brexit, the volume of the EU Budget is expected to decrease or remain stable while needing to cope with new challenges; expects therefore that a more concrete proposal on EU own resources will be made by the Commission in its proposal for the next MFF;

3.

underlines, together with the partners of the #CohesionAlliance, the importance of a strong and effective cohesion policy for the future of the European Union as a whole, considering that the three dimensions of cohesion (economic, social and territorial) form an integral part of the EU’s policy objectives. An improved cohesion policy should therefore be maintained as the key EU investment policy for all regions with sufficient resources after 2020, and in the same proportion as today. Reiterates in this regard the need for cohesion policy to become more flexible and simpler in the next funding period without jeopardising the strategic focus and planning certainty for regional and local authorities, in order to guarantee the functioning of multi-level governance, the partnership principle and the bottom-up approach through shared management and to comprehensively review the requirements for the management and control systems of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF);

4.

reiterates, with regard to the ESIF-related legislative proposals for the post-2020 programming period, its call for the GDP indicator to be complemented with regional indicators (relating to, inter alia, demography, social inclusion, accessibility and climate change) and to radically simplify the ESIF delivery system; supports a common set of rules for the ESIF in order to reduce the complexity of the legislation and supports maintaining the European Social Fund within the ESIF architecture;

5.

emphasises the need for rapid delivery of EFSI 2.0 and of the revised Omnibus regulation, notably with a view to easing the combination of ESIF with EFSI; also argues for better coordination of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and Horizon 2020 with other funds, and deplores the procedural complexity of these instruments;

6.

calls for an upgrade of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGAF) by reviewing its budget, lowering significantly the thresholds for triggering the EGAF and improving synergies with the ESIF;

7.

underlines the important role of local and regional authorities in the European Semester, with over 60 % of country-specific recommendations being directly addressed to them; therefore reiterates its call for the Commission to work with the European Parliament and the Council on a code of conduct for the involvement of local and regional authorities in the European Semester based on the CoR proposal;

8.

underlines that all levels of public authorities, social partners and civil society share a responsibility and an interest in working for a more prosperous and future-proof Europe, where economic and social developments go hand in hand;

9.

calls for the January 2015 agreement on the flexibility margins within the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) to be transposed into primary law. Also reiterates its call for further measures to boost public investment, notably by excluding national, regional or local co-financing under the ESIF from SGP accounting, as already foreseen for co-financing under the EFSI, and by proposing to include an indicator relating to the investment rate in the macroeconomic scoreboard;

10.

encourages the Commission to step up the fight against tax avoidance beyond the establishment of a black list of tax havens or the VAT reform by proposing qualified majority voting (QMV) on tax issues in order to accelerate a decision-making process in the Council;

11.

welcomes the Commission’s efforts to establish rules allowing taxation of profits generated by multinationals through the digital economy;

12.

stresses the need to improve the EU’s social dimension by complementing the European Pillar of Social Rights with a strong European social agenda, which would include, inter alia, an increased role for social indicators in the European Semester and real wage convergence in line with productivity;

13.

intends to pay particular attention to the new legislative proposals aimed at creating convergence between Member States towards better working and living conditions, such as the proposal to set up a common labour market authority, as well as the planned proposals to modernise the rules on labour contracts, and to guarantee access to social protection for all;

14.

advocates further simplification of State aid rules, specifically concerning Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI), through a substantial review of the relevant Decision and Framework (the ‘Almunia package’); also asks the Commission to investigate whether the economic disruption caused by the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU should result in an expansion of General Block Exemption Regulations and a temporary relaxation or suspension of State aid rules for certain undertakings and sectors likely to be most affected;

15.

stresses the importance of an industrial strategy that will boost competitiveness, and affirms its commitment to emphasise the role of local and regional authorities in this strategy;

16.

calls on the Commission to update the Small Business Act and to maintain its coherence following the EC proposal on the Start-up and Scale-up Initiative;

17.

regrets that the CoR’s call to formally and systematically include regional and local SME envoys in the SME Envoys network has not been taken up in the Commission Work Programme;

18.

welcomes the launching of the participatory Broadband Platform between the Commission and the CoR and the ongoing dialogue on the needs for a better roll-out of broadband infrastructure in the EU particularly with a view to the next programming period and for proper follow-up to the Smart Villages initiative. To this end, urges that digital development investments in rural and sparsely populated areas, aimed at ensuring affordable broadband access in areas where the market fails, be recognised as Services of General Economic Interest and State aid rules be applied accordingly;

19.

calls for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to be developed into an agricultural policy that is fair, sustainable and based on solidarity for the benefit of farmers, regions, consumers and members of the public, and advocates capping and adjusting direct payments per agricultural worker as well as harmonising them between EU Member States under the first pillar; stresses the importance of further revising the CAP in order to incentivise both farmers and food manufacturers to produce sustainably;

20.

expresses its disappointment at the lack in the Commission Work Programme of a proposal for an EU rural strategy, exacerbating the decrease of the EU’s overall financial support for rural development in comparison with the previous programming period;

21.

reiterates its request to the Commission to clarify the scope of application of the Services Directive in the sharing/collaborative economy and to come forward with proposals to safeguard the rights of the workforce in new forms of employment specific to the sharing/collaborative economy;

22.

calls on the Commission to clarify existing constraints within its public procurement rules in order to more easily apply sustainability criteria; is concerned that EU legislation currently prohibits territorial preferences (such as local foods) being specified in public purchasing contracts;

23.

calls on the Commission to give new impetus to the European blue economy by presenting a White Paper on ‘The sea at the heart of Europe’, establishing a blue economy investment mechanism and setting up a policy platform on ocean governance. Also reiterates its call for the creation of a Knowledge and Innovation Community dedicated specifically to the blue economy in order to better transfer ideas from marine research to the private sector;

24.

requests, in line with the existing Inter-Institutional Agreement, that a Structured Dialogue on Ocean Governance be regularly co-organised by the Commission, Council, Parliament and CoR to jointly develop new marine-related policy initiatives;

25.

requests that it be involved in the voluntary exchanges planned as part of the State of Health in the EU process in 2018;

26.

considers that health should be one of the priority themes under the Urban Agenda for the EU process and calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in 2018 to launch a partnership on health;

27.

expects the Commission and the 2018-2019 Presidencies of the Council to provide thorough follow-up to the December 2017 EPSCO Council conclusions on deinstitutionalisation and declares its support for transition away from institutional care towards community-based care, respectful of national and regional socio-medical systems and societal preferences;

28.

reminds the Commission of the need for a European strategy on demography;

29.

reiterates its call to the Commission for a thorough revision of its 2010 tourism strategy with a clear multi-annual work programme, securing a dedicated budget line to fund European tourism projects post-2020; in this context supports the establishment in 2018 of an inter-institutional Tourism Contact Group, taking advantage of the European Year of Cultural Heritage;

30.

regrets the Commission’s failure to propose a fully-fledged EU strategy on international cultural relations and development of cultural diplomacy and to mention the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage in its Work Programme, and reiterates its commitment to actively contribute to the celebration of the Year, at European, national, regional and local level in order to valorise the cultural and linguistic diversity of our continent;

31.

requests that the Commission involve the CoR in the preparation of the future EU climate and energy policy in view of meeting the objectives of the Paris agreement, which will require more ambition at EU level; recalls in this context the crucial role local and regional authorities have in both climate change mitigation and adaptation and draws attention to its support for the idea of a system of locally-determined contributions to supplement nationally-determined contributions on CO2 reduction to be developed;

32.

asks the Commission, concerning Energy Union governance, to work with the CoR on the preparation of recommendations to the Member States regarding the appropriate inclusion of local and regional components in their national planning, monitoring and reporting of progress, and recalls that the CoR should be represented in the future Energy Union Committee to be set up under the new Governance Regulation;

33.

expects the Commission, in cooperation with the EIB and the private sector, to step up efforts in the development of the Smart Finance for Smart Buildings initiative and to increase the transparency of this process, ensuring that its recommendations in this regard are taken on board, providing for synergies between the different sources of funding available to the local and regional level, including continued technical assistance for small scale local sustainable energy projects to facilitate the aggregation of projects to make them bankable;

34.

considering that access to funding is important for the success of the energy transition, calls on the European Commission to develop a classification of sustainable assets that includes clear and binding definitions of the different types of ‘climate finance’ in order to facilitate the deployment of new instruments such as green bonds and collective guarantees; underlines the need to make environmental and climate investments more operational under the EU rules on State aid and/or European accounting rules for public bodies;

35.

calls on the Commission to safeguard the representation of the various sub-national structures of different sizes in the Global Covenant’s structures and to preserve therein the principles of partnership and multilevel governance;

36.

demands the formal inclusion of local and regional authorities in the governance mechanisms of the UNFCCC and calls on the Commission to give priority to the local and regional dimension in the upcoming revision of the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change;

37.

stands ready to ensure greater involvement of local and regional authorities throughout the EIR cycle in the implementation of environmental legislation and to contribute to reviews of key environmental directives, notably on minimum quality standards for re-used water and the REFIT of the drinking water directive; expects in particular to be closely involved in the future monitoring framework for the circular economy and other initiatives to facilitate the speedy implementation of the circular economy package. Also plans to contribute to the Environment Action Programme post 2020, while evaluating the current 7th EAP;

38.

supports the implementation of the Action Plan for Nature, People and the Economy, plans continued cooperation on the Natura 2000 Award and on the European Green Capitals (EGC)/European Green Leaf Cities (EGL) award, and expects continued cooperation on the preparation of the Green Week;

39.

stresses that all EU projects relating to construction of new infrastructure (whether they be implemented through ESIF or the EFSI) should be compatible with the EU’s sustainability commitments under the SDGs and thereby, inter alia, resilient to disasters; calls for this principle to be mentioned explicitly in the funds’ implementation rules; also calls on the Commission to issue an action plan on the seismic requalification of existing buildings as a priority in the Member States’ regional development operational programmes;

40.

takes note of the proposals for the completion of the European Security Union and recalls the need to balance security concerns and individual fundamental rights including data protection; in particular, reiterates its call for the Commission to support local and regional authorities in addressing the issue of radicalisation leading to violent extremism by issuing guidelines for local and regional governments on the setting up of prevention strategies to counter radicalisation. Also calls on the Commission to adopt a multi-agency approach to the various aspects of radicalisation and extremism, increasing transparency regarding the available funding opportunities in this area and involving the private sector and public enterprises;

41.

asks the Commission to speedily propose a revised single and effective EU mechanism on the rule of law, which should incorporate existing instruments for the protection of democracy and fundamental rights and be applicable to all levels of government;

42.

urges the Member States to agree with the European Parliament on the reform of the Common European Asylum System by June 2018, taking into consideration the major impact on cities and regions in terms of the reception of migrants and integration of refugees, as well as the recommendations already made by the CoR; urges the Member States and Parliament to base any new rules on the principles of respect of human rights and international obligations, solidarity and reciprocity; in the context of the review of the European Agenda for Migration, also expects the implementation of the Commission proposals for enhancing legal pathways for persons in need of international protection and thereby regaining full control over migration routes;

43.

invites the Commission to further simplify and speed up the funding procedures and to facilitate access for regions and cities to the financial resources designed to address humanitarian crises and integration of refugees;

44.

urges the Commission to ensure that the local and regional dimension of EU trade policy is considered when negotiating new trade agreements and requests continued access to relevant negotiation documents via the reading room procedure;

45.

stresses the CoR’s commitment to the Commission’s goal of fostering stability and prosperity outside the EU, through its Joint Consultative Committees and Working Groups with candidate and potential candidate countries, as well as through the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP), the CoR’s Ukraine Task Force, Ukraine-Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme (U-LEAD) and the Nicosia initiative for Libyan municipalities;

46.

emphasises the territorial dimension of the accession strategies and the importance of involving local and regional authorities in the development of the relevant strategies;

47.

notes that continuous public discussion of EU enlargement is needed at all levels of governance, to ensure that the prospect of EU accession can continue to foster subsidiarity, democracy, protection of the rights of national minorities and security; in this regard, reiterates its invitation to the European Commission to co-organise the annual Enlargement Day together with the CoR in order to provide information and political support for local and regional authorities in the enlargement countries;

48.

expects the Commission’s Strategy on the Western Balkans announced for early 2018 to contain a strong focus on its local and regional dimension;

49.

urges the Commission to recognise the role of Libyan local authorities in stabilising the country and containing the exploitation of migration routes to Europe, and calls for Libya, given the efforts it must make in terms of respect for human rights and the rule of law, to be included in EU programmes operating in the Mediterranean, such as CBC-Med. Suggests the use of innovative legal tools such as the EGTC to enable Libyan cities to participate in cross-border cooperation actions and in direct partnerships with cities and regions in the EU; urges the European Commission to involve the CoR and the regional and local authorities it represents in the planning, implementation and monitoring of European Union programmes in Latin America, with a special focus on those intended to promote sustainable development cooperation and social cohesion;

50.

calls on the European Commission to involve local and regional authorities via the CoR in the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the New Consensus on Development and to support coordination among all actors in decentralised development cooperation;

51.

reiterates its call for existing EU funding schemes, in particular TAIEX and Twinning, to be further adapted so as to target the needs of local and regional stakeholders;

52.

stresses the need for effective inclusion of regional and local authorities in the implementation of the European Fund for Sustainable Development and supports the Commission’s intention to move swiftly to support local projects through it;

53.

underlines its readiness to contribute through its three representatives to the Subsidiarity and Proportionality Task Force its expertise, based on its Subsidiarity Monitoring Network and its long-standing work on these issues; welcomes in this regard the fact that the mandate of the Task Force makes explicit reference to the question how better to involve regional and local authorities in the preparation and the follow-up of union policies and stresses that this requires a debate not just about the possible re-delegation of certain competencies to the Member State level, but about a comprehensive approach to multi-level governance in the EU;

54.

draws attention to the contribution it is making to the democratic and inclusive debate about the Future of Europe to which the CoR will also contribute in the form of an opinion by October 2018, notably via a broad reflection using a bottom-up approach that it has launched involving citizens and local and regional stakeholders with the purpose of identifying the key challenges for EU citizens as well as concrete proposals on the course the EU should take in the future to increase its legitimacy; in this regard, would draw attention to the proposals to achieve this set out in the opinion on the EU Citizenship Report 2017 that was adopted in the CoR’s November plenary session;

55.

looks forward to the Communication on how to make the Union more united, stronger and more democratic in communication terms and reiterates its readiness to contribute to the development of decentralised communication strategies and activities in close cooperation with the other EU institutions and local and regional authorities across the Union;

56.

instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Estonian and Bulgarian Presidencies of the Council of the EU and the President of the European Council.