The discussion on the future of the EU Cohesion Policy will be initiated on Thursday (24th November) at the conference ‘Integrated Approach to Development – the Key to Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Europe’, organised by the Presidency. An informal meeting of EU ministers for regional policy, territorial cohesion and urban development will take place the following day.
The topics discussed at the conference will serve as an introduction to the debates of government representatives. The Polish Presidency will be represented by the Minister of Regional Development, Elżbieta Bieńkowska.
‘The Friday meeting will be the first one where ministers responsible for the cohesion policy from the 27 states will make an official statement on the legislative package presented by the European Commission on 6thOctober,’ the Minister of Regional Development said. The package defines the spending of funds and the structure of Operating Programmes in the future Multiannual Financial Perspective for the years 2014-2020.’
The goal of Thursday’s conference, to be attended by a number of international experts, including Richard Florida of the University of Toronto, Vasco Cal of the Bureau of European Policy Advisors and Jan Sturesson, representing PricewaterhouseCoopers, is to indicate how to effectively capitalise on the European potential and focus it on strategic objectives within the global market economy. The conference participants will also get the chance to discuss how to integrate individual aid policies to boost the effectiveness of public interventions. Another topic to be addressed during the conference is the role of regions, cities and the so-called functional areas in development processes.
‘Our fundamental argument in favour of maintaining the Cohesion Policy on a level comparable to the current one is that there are funds which have a horizontal impact on various areas. In other words, they are used to finance different projects ranging from motorways, universities and entrepreneurial innovations to soft skills, such as training. This is the only way forward to assure durable economic growth of a given area,’ Minister Bieńkowska stressed.
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