EN Official Journal of the European Union C 260/1

Resolution on the European Committee of the Regions’ priorities for the sixth term of office 2015-2020

(2015/C 260/01)

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) will focus on the following key priorities during its current 5-year term (2015-2020):

I. A fresh start for the European economy: creating jobs and sustainable growth in cities and regions to provide a better quality of life for citizens.

A bottom-up approach — which involves including regional and local authorities in European Partnerships — is needed to stimulate targeted investment in the real economy and to trigger an exchange of best practice. At the same time, this will address citizens’ demands for quality spending and sound implementation of public policies. A new entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a functioning Digital Single Market and Smart Specialisation, could lead to new skills, knowledge, innovation and employment.

The CoR highlights the following measures, aimed at implementing this priority:

1. building on positive economic trends and converting them into sustainable jobs, with specific focus on education and on matching skills and training with the needs of the labour market. High-quality general and vocational education, the development of training places and improved mobility are in particular needed in order to improve the situation of young people affected by high unemployment. The positive experience with the dual vocational training system could be helpful here;

2. monitoring the implementation of the European Structural and Investment Funds and the European Fund for Strategic Investment, in partnership with the European Investment Bank, while maintaining solidarity with the regions lagging behind;

3. strengthening the social dimension of the EU and of the Economic and Monetary Union by developing incentives for reforms in order to accelerate the achievement of the social objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy and coordination between the automatic stabilisers at EMU level;

4. contributing to the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 and to future Cohesion Policy; calling for review of the EU own resources and supporting the alignment of public budgets with territorially-based, spending-quality objectives and sufficient levels of payment appropriations;

5. enhancing the investment capacity of local and regional authorities by encouraging flexibility in the application of European economic governance rules, while respecting the need for sound public finances and the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact;

6. promoting synergies among the various EU funds available, strengthening the interconnection between the European Fund for Strategic Investment and existing funds to achieve a multiplier financial effect; focusing on simplification of EU’s financial instruments;

7. boosting entrepreneurial spirit: enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises and promoting the social economy by improving access to finance, inspiring innovation and target infrastructure, and by reducing red tape;

8. considers language, culture and cultural heritage as a human value, supporting national, regional and local identity;

9. creating the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish. Maximising the growth potential of the digital economy by investing in high-speed, trustworthy ICT infrastructure, and research and innovation to boost industrial competitiveness, public services, inclusiveness and skills;

10. boosting the research and innovation capacity of the regions and bridging the digital and innovation divide between them; improving regional competitiveness by promoting smart specialisation and the sharing of best practice; therefore stimulate leading interregional networks such as the Vanguard initiative that have put the industrial renaissance at the core of their S3-activities with a view to promote exchange of experiences, creation of stairways of excellence and joint processing of project application;

11. making the best use of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) covering the innovation chain, and Key enabling technologies (KET) as a means to being at the forefront of managing the shift to a low carbon, and knowledge-based economy;

12. supporting better access to online goods and services across Europe for consumers and businesses by removing key differences between the online and offline worlds and breaking down barriers to cross-border online activity while ensuring that regulatory approaches towards new forms of exchanges such as the sharing economy are coordinated at European level;

13. supporting the increase of innovative e-government so as to enable the lives citizens and businesses to be made easier and less dependent on bureaucracy;

14. ensuring better regulatory and financial conditions, in order to facilitate the modernisation and expansion of current energy infrastructure set out as part of the EU’s new 2030 energy and climate change objectives, in particular achieving a crisis-proof and climate-friendly Energy Union, with the aim of fair conditions of competition in the energy sector;

15. ensuring that legislation is stable, in order to support investment in renewable energies, including the circular economy and eco-design initiatives. Emphasising the importance of providing the resources needed to allow regions and cities to play a leading role in delivering sustainable energy projects.

16. promoting building resilience to disasters as one of the fundamentals for sustainable growth and jobs; highlighting the key role of local and regional authorities.

II. The territorial dimension of EU legislation matters: working in the interest of citizens, no matter where they chose to live and work.

EU policies should bridge distances and knowledge gaps between regions and cities, turning territorial, economic, social, cultural, geographical and demographic characteristics into strengths in both urban and rural areas.

The CoR highlights the following measures, aimed at implementing this priority:

17. calling for a stronger territorial dimension within EU policies and projects across the European Union, including as part of the revision of the Europe 2020 Strategy;

18. promote the recognition of demographic challenges as a threat to the whole of Europe and the creation of a European strategy to address these challenges;

19. scrutinising and assessing the territorial impact of EU legislation on the single market and relating to initiatives which are designed to have a territorial impact (i.e. the Energy Union, the Digital Single Market, the Labour Mobility Package, the Capital Markets Union, the future Transport Policy). Particular focus is needed on the key areas of state aid, its modernisation, industrial policy, public procurement and the delivery of the services of general interest;

20. shaping the development of future Cohesion Policy, including the development of European spatial planning, with particular focus on strengthening the Urban Agenda and the balance between urban and rural areas and the further development of financial instruments in cohesion policy; encouraging debate on ‘Beyond GDP’ and the development of alternative indicators for well-being and sustainable development;

21. attentiveness and sensitivity to questions of financing and the sources of funds; early consideration of the future of regional support and the Structural Funds after 2020 in the interests of the municipalities and regions;

22. calls for a refocus on the revitalisation of towns and cities centres which have been neglected by large scale shopping developments in the outskirts of towns;

23. contributing to policy debates on the future of EU agriculture, rural development and fisheries policies;

24. empowering local and regional authorities to monitor over time their natural resources, such as water, and ensure they are able to prepare for situations of extreme conditions such as overabundance or shortage, and to share that best practice throughout Europe;

25. promoting the development of cross-border solutions, interregional networking and the implementation of macro-regional strategies by extending the use of European Groupings for Territorial Cooperation;

26. promoting specific regional and local characteristics as part of the process of completing the TEN-T networks and future transport policy after 2020 and supporting new initiatives on the reduction of noise emissions from rail and air transport.

III. A simpler, more connected Europe: reconnecting citizens and businesses at local and regional level.

The CoR must encourage debate on the questions of how to make it easier for European’s to benefit from the added value that the EU provides, and how to help businesses to thrive. It is essential that the new initiatives be transparent. Cutting red tape, improving access to finance for SMEs and promoting innovative public procurement shall continue to be at the heart of our priorities.

The CoR highlights the following measures, aimed at implementing this priority:

27. monitoring adherence to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and ensuring that action is taken at the adequate level. Calling for territorial impact assessments to become a standard practice promoted by the European Commission;

28. more transparency and co-determination through bottom-up procedures in order to strengthen the local and regional authorities’ opportunities for action and influence and to promote citizens’ trust in, and closeness to, the European Union;

29. promoting multilevel governance in future legislation, as well as in discussions on the evolution of the European Semester and expanding the European Monetary Union;

30. contributing to an interinstitutional agreement on better law-making and getting involved in the REFIT programme in order to contribute to evaluations of EU legislation from a regional and local perspective, increase transparency and propose simplification of legislation to the EU legislator where necessary;

31. encouraging the reduction of red tape and regulatory burdens at all levels of government, thus allowing businesses to thrive and citizens to benefit fully from the EU’s added value;

32. promoting the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) principles for effective public investment;

33. improving the Transparency Register by ensuring that it recognises that local and regional authorities and their representative associations are exempt from any requirement to register, since they are an integral part of the EU’s institutional framework, and their representatives are democratically elected by citizens.

IV. Stability and cooperation within and outside of the European Union: supporting our neighbours on their path towards European values.

The CoR should ensure that efforts to cooperate with our neighbours are founded on cooperation between local and regional authorities and people-to-people contact. Institutional and capacity building, political solidarity and city-diplomacy have been successfully used in the past to establish European values in neighbouring countries and they should be the main tools for the future.

The CoR highlights the following measures, aimed at implementing this priority:

34. expanding the territorial dimension — and the devolution principle — of EU enlargement and neighbourhood policies. Building on the CoR’s partnerships with candidate countries from the Union for the Mediterranean area (ARLEM) and the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP);

35. supporting the development of a comprehensive EU migration policy and strengthened local and regional crisis management capacities. Promoting an exchange of best practice examples and strengthened cooperation at local and regional level, independently of a framework submitted by the Commission. Involvement in the debate on the review of the Dublin III Regulation in order to develop a fair burden sharing within the EU, and to address the root causes of illegal migration and human trafficking, taking account of humanitarian and development-policy aspects;

36. setting up ‘migration and integration partnerships’ between cities and regions in countries of origin and destination. This will enhance mutual trust and promote decentralised cooperation — particularly on areas such as urban concentration, climate change and resource shortages;

37. supporting policies which address security and social stability challenges at local and regional level including across borders — such as radicalisation and xenophobia, racism, and ultimately violence, in isolated form, or on organised form such as and terrorism;

38. highlighting the regional and local dimension in negotiations on the EU’s Strategic Partnerships with key international players, with particular reference to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Trade in Services Agreement. It is necessary to ensure that the final agreements respect European social and environmental standards, for example in relation to the question of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or the protection of services of general interest.

V. Europe of the citizens is Europe of the future: enhancing forward-looking partnerships between European Union and its people.

The CoR must help to reconnect Europe with its people by encouraging dialogue with local and regional representatives, and citizens of all ages. We should also publicise our work effectively and focus on showcasing the added value of the EU and results achieved at home.

The CoR highlights the following measures, aimed at implementing this priority:

39. communicating about Europe and its values, stimulating public debate with citizens and showcasing the impact that Europe has on citizens’ wellbeing;

40. improving the CoR’s communication on its added value within the European Union, while strengthening its relations with the other institutions; deepening and developing the procedure for subsidiarity monitoring and further developing follow-up practice through analysis of the impact of opinions on the basis of measurable criteria;

41. contributing to the ongoing debate on the implementation of the Lisbon treaty, with a view to participating in institutional debates on possible future Treaty revisions.

The CoR instructs its president to forward this resolution to the EU institutions and the presidencies of the Council of the EU for the period 2015-2020.