Debate: Flexible Assistance to Territories
Date: MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2022
Speaker: Niklas Nienaß
Country: Bulgaria
Language: EN

During the pandemic, we agreed upon more support for regions, citizens and the economies, as well as healthcare infrastructure through the Corona Response Investment Initiative, or CRII, then followed up with CRII+. This year we needed urgent help for regions, as regards to the support of refugees fleeing from the Russian aggression in Ukraine. We called it CARE, then another one CARE+. And now we are talking about FAST-CARE. All these responses have shown that cohesion policy is able to help citizens in the long term but also, if need be, can react swift and in order to mitigate the impact of imminent crisis. However, we must take our responsibility as parliamentarians very serious and check very carefully if an emergency procedure is always justified. It cannot become the new modus operandi for the EU’s policy to use emergency procedure over and over again. Because what’s next? What about the daily challenges and future ones, if we do not stick to the strategic goals of our policies and renounce resilience and preparedness? Cohesion policy is of utmost importance for the whole European Union. It is the main investment tool to help us eradicate social and territorial inequalities. Cohesion policy means solidarity within and amongst regions. Cohesion policy is not just a problem solver but a tool for democracy and we need that more than ever. We cannot and should not cut it whenever a crisis arises. Instead, we must find other solutions. The Commission must find different sources of funding. Tomorrow, we will vote on FAST-CARE – the proposed urgent procedure gave the REGI committee a lot of headaches, to be honest, because of the matters of the principle that I already mentioned. We did take our time to look into the details of the proposal and to evaluate the substance of it. And this is our constitutional duty as co-legislators. FAST-CARE now allows flexibility in terms of transfer between funds and regions, support for not only Ukrainians but also third-country refugees, allows for more funding money for regions due to 100% subsidies and some more. And the Commission has taken up on our call for direct funding for cities and municipalities that we express as the committee in various reports. Now, 30% of the money for helping with refugees will be spent by local actors. This is a good start, but FAST-CARE also allows for phasing of delayed projects in the current funding period. It is good to save this project and make sure that these resources already spent don’t go to waste. But it may include projects like construction of regional airports which are not eligible at all anymore and this is for good reason. All these measures are needed and, content wise, we support most of this without any hesitation. But all these measures simply mean cuts to the cohesion budget and do jeopardise the idea being behind cohesion policy, because it is a policy that not only has a real impact when it is implemented in a long-term approach by preparatory instruments and strategically considers all regions of Europe. For emergency measures, fresh money is needed. We can’t tackle them only by shifting the existing money from A to B. We need a more flexible MFF and not only a flexibilisation on an existing regulation. You know, I am a young European, I was involved in the Conference on the Future of Europe process as well as the internal EP process and, of course, I am definitely in favour of modifying EU rules that are clearly outdated. But we exceptionally must take all fashion in one main regard when it comes to EU cohesion policy. We need to move back to the root of it as a strategic investment to secure overall harmonious development for all cities and regions in Europe in the long term. With emergency measures like FAST-CARE we risk to undermine our common goals, we risk to leave regions behind and we risk European democracies as a whole. Because the political shift in Europe arises, particularly from regions and citizens that do not feel heard and seen, that are left behind. And this is what we contact with a holistic and strategic approach from cohesion policy. And if we should focus on that, we would not even have to invest in most emergency measures because we would support regions in becoming resilient for future challenges, be it a pandemic in healthcare systems, be it an economic crash, or the environmental crisis ahead. We need commitment from the Member States, we need commitment from the Commission – for the Commission to act in solidarity. So I call for the Commission that if you should propose another emergency measure, I would ask you to provide also a plan on how to solve the issues in the long run, how to fade out from the emergency to regular legislation and how to finance them without dropping out of our future. Thank you very much and I am looking forward for support for this FAST-CARE proposal.