Cohesion policy plays a key role in Europe’s future. It is a first responder in the COVID crisis and a linchpin of the recovery package. In the longer term, it will be a cornerstone of the Green Deal for all regions, with no one left behind. Over the years, regional policy has constantly offered expertise in transition, structural transformation and policy implementation. In this respect, our budget helps to turn the Union’s priorities into results that make a difference to people’s lives.
Cohesion policy invested EUR 23 billion during the first semester of 2020 (04/09/2020)
The Commission has released financial data on cohesion policy implementation in the first half of 2020 on the ESIF Open Data Platform (https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/overview ). More than EUR 23 billion was invested across the Union under the 4 cohesion policy funds. This represents a 5% point increase in investment spending since the end of 2019 – with a total of EUR 204 billion (43%) of the planned EUR 480 billion for 2014-2020 now invested. The modest increase in spending compares to the first half of 2019 when an overall 5% increase was also reported. This suggests that the rate of investment implementation did not slow down particularly in the exceptional climate during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
European Week of Regions and Cities registration is now open (04/09/2020)
Despite the difficulties generated by the COVID 19 pandemic, the #EURegionsWeek 2020 will offer to participants more than 500 digital working sessions to discover over three consecutive weeks in October, from 5-22 October, covering various topics along the thematic priorities Empowering Citizens; Cohesion and Cooperation; and Green Europe.
Youth4Regions 2020: record number of applications received (23/07/2020)
A new year, a new record for DG REGIO’s programme for aspiring journalists: 542 applicants sent us their thoughts on an EU-funded project. This represents a 21% increase when compared with the previous edition. The high number confirms an increasing interest for the programme among the target audience and for EU action in the regions.
Public Consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions (2020) (23/07/2020)
The Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) launched a new online “Public consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions”.
We would like to invite you, as citizen and/or border stakeholder to participate and share your opinion and feedback with us!
Successful start for the pilot action on #engagingcitizens for #cohesionpolicy (23/07/2020)
On 15 July, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) successfully launched the first pilot action aimed at promoting genuine and meaningful citizen engagement in implementing cohesion projects on the ground. As part of this collaboration, institutions involved in managing five programmes from Italy, Poland, Spain and two Interreg programmes – Romania-Bulgaria and Flanders-The Netherlands - will receive top class expertise and tailored assistance in setting up new initiatives to involve citizens and promote transparency and accountability. The OECD has proven in several projects its expertise in the matter and is looking forward to working with the selected authorities.
Urban Innovative Actions: 11 new projects will receive EU funding (16/07/2020)
The Commission and the French Regional Council of Hauts-de-France, as entrusted entity managing the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA), have finalised the evaluation of the 5th and last call for proposals. The winning projects coming from Brussels, Ghent and Leiedal (Belgium), Sofia (Bulgaria), Halandri (Greece), Budapest (Hungary), Ferrara and Verona (Italy), Tilburg (the Netherlands), Košice (Slovakia), and Almería (Spain) will channel more than €45 million from the European Regional and Development Fund. They will experiment new ideas to foster culture and cultural heritage, improve air quality, develop the circular economy and tackle demographic change across Europe.
Stories from the regions: Bucharest Metro Line 5, Romania (16/07/2020)
Stories from the Regions goes to Bucharest, Romania, where a brand new section of Metro Line 5, co-financed by the EU, will be gradually opened to the public starting from 2020. Even despite the fact that the construction has faced several difficulties and lengthy delays over the past years, the impressively designed ten new stations are set to benefit 20 million passengers on an annual basis, approximately 65 thousand per day.
Once again, EU delivers in the regions! (16/07/2020)
The ever popular “EU delivers in the regions” communication campaign, highlighting emblematic places in the regions that are co-funded by the EU, is back!
15 regions within 5 Member States (FR, EL, IE, IT, NL) will be subject to a one-month ultra-local campaign, as of 1st July until the end of the year.
New working paper: Convergence of EU regions redux - Recent trends in regional disparities (16/07/2020)
Before the economic crisis which started in 2008, the EU was nicknamed a "convergence machine" as disparities among EU regions were significantly decreasing. The crisis had a deep impact on economic and social cohesion in the EU and the surge in disparities is now frequently cited as one of the main causes for the current lack of popular support for the project of constructing the European Union.
Panorama 73: Emilia-Romagna in line for a smarter future (08/07/2020)
The summer issue of Panorama magazine is now available to download, with a main article featuring the EU’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. We examine the Coronavirus Investment Initiative Plus, as well as other financial instruments, and profile projects tackling the issues head on on the ground. Data Point shows in a more general way how Cohesion Policy helps regions invest in healthcare.
COVID-19: cohesion policy exceptional measures for Poland approved in record time (08/07/2020)
Today, the European Commission has approved in record time the modification of the Regional Operational Programme for Warmińsko-Mazurskie region in Poland to allow for further investments in health services and to compensate for enterprise financial loss related to the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Commission and OECD join forces to boost citizen engagement for a sustainable and inclusive recovery (09/07/2020)
Today the European Commission announced its support to five national and regional programmes to pilot innovative ways of engaging citizens in decisions about cohesion policy investments. The managing authorities from Spain, Poland, Italy and two Interreg programmes (Belgium-the Netherlands and Bulgaria-Romania) will benefit from targeted support from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The objective of the pilots will be to promote active citizen and civil society participation in designing, implementing and evaluating cohesion policy projects, as well as boosting the culture of transparency and accountability of the public institutions involved.
RegioStars 2020: 25 finalists announced and Public Choice Award now open (09/07/2020)
The European Commission has announced the 25 finalists of the 2020 RegioStars competition for the best EU Cohesion policy projects.
They competed in 5 categories:
“Industrial transition for a smart Europe”
“Circular economy for a green Europe”
“Skills & education for a digital Europe”
“Citizen engagement for cohesive European cities”
and the specific for 2020 “Youth empowerment for cooperation across border - 30 years of Interreg”.
NEW Live online training sessions for ESIF authorities (03/07/2020)
We are pleased to announce the opening of registrations for 3 online training modules. The interactive sessions will be spread over four half-days and will be delivered via a videoconferencing platform. The training sessions are designed for participants from ESIF managing authorities/ intermediate bodies/ audit authorities and are provided free of charge.
Smart Regions: I-MOVE COVID-19 to fight the virus with a multidisciplinary approach (03/07/2020)
I-MOVE COVID-19 is an EU project that is about strengthening the epidemiological and virological surveillance of COVID-19 in order to defeat the disease. In addition to bringing together case data from hospitals and other primary care clinics, the project is also studying the effectiveness of any future vaccines or treatments for the virus thanks to a multidisciplinary approach and with no pharmaceutical company involved. The goal is to obtain as much information as possible about COVID-19, and to make sure the same methodology is practised among the partners and 22 participating countries.
The 2020 European Week of Regions and Cities had two major challenges to address: organising a major event in the post-pandemic world and managing an absolute record of partners’ applications (more than double compared to last year). The solution? Three weeks instead of one!
TAIEX-REGIO PEER 2 PEER goes online! (26/06/2020)
TAIEX-REGIO PEER 2 PEER has improved its offer of peer learning on regional policy by adding a new option for organising online exchanges.
Green Deal: Coal and other carbon-intensive regions and the Commission launch the European Just Transition Platform (26/06/2020)
On Monday 29 June, the Just Transition Platform (JTP) will be launched to help Member States to draw up their territorial Just Transition Plans and access funding from the over €150 billion Just Transition Mechanism. This online Platform will provide technical and advisory support for public and private stakeholders in coal and other carbon-intensive regions, with easy access to information on funding opportunities and sources of technical assistance.
The Platform will ensure that the €40 billion (in 2018 constant prices) proposed under the Just Transition Fund is channelled to the right projects and that no region is left behind. It will also support access to the dedicated scheme under InvestEU and the public sector loan facility, which together with the Just Transition Fund form the three pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism.
European City Facility: First call open for municipalities (03/06/2020)
The European City Facility (EUCF) will assist municipalities with fast and simplified financial support for developing investment concepts delivering local sustainable energy projects.
More than €12m of funding will be available through a series of regional calls to support over 200 municipalities over the next three years. Municipalities can apply now until 2 October 2020!
Interreg: 30 years of sharing and caring across borders (03/06/2020)
Interreg, the EU’s flagship scheme for cooperation across borders at the national and regional level, is celebrating 30 years of achievements while looking to do more together in the future. During 2020, we will focus on three main topics which highlight what Interreg is all about while responding to citizens’ main concerns.
Celebrations throughout 2020 will provide opportunities to demonstrate Interreg’s many achievements. They will also focus on the future by launching a debate on cooperation policy post-2020. While Interreg covers cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation, it also anchors cooperation in a more sustainable policy environment through, for example, Macro-Regional Strategies and the Border Focal Point.
Coronavirus: Czechia, Estonia, Spain, Greece, Poland and North Macedonia to apply for EU Solidarity Fund aid (03/06/2020)
Six more countries have submitted to the European Commission their preliminary applications for funding under the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) in the context of the coronavirus public health emergency. The Commission has also previously received notifications from Italy, Austria, Ireland, Romania, Lithuania, Belgium and Latvia.
We have 12 finalists for EU Datathon 2020! (03/06/2020)
Congratulations to the 12 teams preselected for EU Datathon 2020, the EU open data competition! Now the real work begins for them to build an application in time for the European Week of Regions and Cities in October.
This year’s EU Datathon adventure started in February with the call to data geeks worldwide to propose ideas for applications using open data from the EU institutions, agencies and bodies. The deadline for proposals was early May.
Stronger Together: Stories from the EU Regions Responding to COVID-19 Crisis (28/05/2020)
In recent months DG REGIO has collected many impressive stories from EU-funded projects and initiatives that responded in solidarity to the Coronavirus consequences in the EU and beyond. Some of them are told in short video testimonials grouped in a dedicated playlist on EU in My Region channel.
#EuinmyRegion postcard contest (28/05/2020)
There are so many beautiful EU supported projects around!
Join the #EuinmyRegion postcard contest whether you are a Managing Authority or a project beneficiary, by sending the best shots of your project and get the chance to receive 300 postcards and be featured on DG REGIO communication activities (Social Media, Panorama magazine, website):
Each month, until August, up to 25 winning pictures. So far we have already selected 36 winners!
Youth & European Territorial Cooperation: speak up & register now to join the online dialogue on 23rd June! (28/05/2020)
If you are a young European or you work in a youth organisation and you are interested and involved in European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) then you cannot miss the online dialogue on the role of youth in European Territorial Cooperation, which will be held on 23 June 2020 at 9:30 - 12:00 CET.
Commission proposes a public loan facility to support green investments together with the European Investment Bank (28/05/2020)
The European Commission presents its proposal for a public sector loan facility under the Just Transition Mechanism. The facility will be implemented with the involvement of the European Investment Bank and will encourage investments that support the transition towards a climate-neutral economy by public sector authorities to the benefit of coal- and carbon-intensive regions. The facility will include €1.5 billion in grants from the EU budget and up to €10 billion in loans from the European Investment Bank’s own sources. The facility will mobilise up to between €25 and €30 billion of investments for helping territories and regions most affected by the transition to a climate-neutral economy, prioritising those that have less capacity to deal with the costs of the transition.
EU budget for recovery: what role for cohesion policy? (28/05/2020)
The Commission proposed a major recovery plan with cohesion policy at its core.
