4.2.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 61/3
8. highlights the bright side of this ‘new normal’ as the pandemic also accelerated the digital transition.
However, there is a significant urban-rural digital divide in most EU Member States in terms of infrastructure, internet usage and use of e-government services, as well as a strong concentration of tech industry in specific EU regions.
Bridging this digital divide through comprehensive strategies involving all levels of government is a necessity for a sustainable recovery.
The pandemic showed the value of digital connectivity and the need for digital cohesion, a concept that should be on a par with economic, social and territorial cohesion.
In this regard, it is key to create a robust and comprehensive set of data at local and regional level to transpose digital targets in the 2030 Digital Compass to subnational levels — reflecting the role of LRAs in the digital transformation.
These binding digital targets should be reflected in the European Commission’s implementation report on the long-term vision for rural areas;
9. advocates boosting the role of LRAs in the integration of refugees and migrants.
Given the need to respond to the global challenges of migration and integration locally, many LRAs play an active role in receiving and integrating refugees and migrants by providing vital urban infrastructure and services to meet their needs, such as affordable and social housing, quality education and health services.
Consequently, migrant reception and integration policies need to be formulated in a bottom-up approach in consultation with LRAs to ensure that these policies are not disconnected from the reality of host communities.
Furthermore, LRAs’ access to supporting funds needs to be facilitated, and municipalities that participate in the EU relocation programme and/or develop their own integration projects should be able to receive direct funding;
10. notes with concern that the relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the EU resulting from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) lacks territorial ‘depth’.
The CoR stands ready to contribute to a positive agenda for territorial cooperation with UK LRAs based on new avenues, which do not rely only on the TCA’s institutional framework.
To do so, several concrete initiatives could be launched such as amending the regulation on European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) to facilitate the establishment of EGTCs with the UK or providing specific support for the administrative capacity of public institutions to engage in cooperation projects with UK partners.
Monitoring the involvement of LRAs in the implementation of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) will also be key to verifying whether the territorial impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is remedied;
11. emphasises that — according to the first-ever survey carried out on behalf of the CoR among more than one million politicians elected at subnational level — almost two thirds of local politicians (64 %) feel that there is not enough influence of regions, cities and villages on EU policy-making.
Therefore, Europe can emerge more democratically, and also more environmentally, resilient from the COVID-19 crisis with a formal recognition and application of active subsidiarity to ensure that actions are taken at the level whose action will produce maximised added value for citizens, and that coordinated and effective decision-making processes are in place;
12. highlights that the Conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity to be seized to foster the House of European Democracy.
As key actors in implementing and developing practices of participatory and deliberative democracy that complement and strengthen representative democracy, cities and regions are vital for enhancing public trust in democratic decision making; therefore calls on the EU institutions to use the Conference as an opportunity to pilot innovative measures (such as the interactive multilingual digital platform and the citizens’ panels) that could potentially become permanent features of EU decision-making processes, and to learn better about the needs of local and regional authorities, while considering the need for Treaty changes;
13. stresses that regions’ development depends largely on the quality of their physical connectivity.
In this context, points to the need to promote rail as a key element in addressing the issue of the public transport exclusion of remote and less developed regions; emphasises the need to deepen integration between environmentally friendly, innovative and safe transport modes; recognises that regional airports play a prominent role in EU territorial cohesion for sparsely populated, peripheral or less developed regions; highlights that, in view of the global challenges that can only be addressed through cooperation, EU regions and cities must focus at the same time within and beyond the EU;
14. sees great potential for the million EU politicians elected at regional and local level to contribute to the House of European Democracy and notes from our most recent survey that an overwhelming majority of these politicians say strengthening their involvement will make democracy in the EU work better;