Despite some modest signs of recovery, most European economies are still far from experiencing any significant growth. Over recent years, the convergence among regions has come to a halt and, quite worryingly, we are seeing increased disparities between and inside EU countries.
How to tackle rising development gaps and make the most of EU cohesion policy investment will therefore be at the heart of our discussions during the 12th European week of regions and cities – the Open Days 2014, organised by the Committee of the Regions and the European
commission.
Thousands of representatives from EU local and regional authorities, national governments, EU institutions, think-tanks, universities, as well as practitioners from private and public sectors, will discuss and exchange views on how to improve the way cohesion policy tools can be better used to create new jobs.
With more than €350bn of EU funds to be invested into Europe's regions and cities through 2014-2020, many participants involved in the planning of co-funded programmes will be at hand to share their experiences.
"Our aim is to proactively prevent any delay in implementing measures that are of the greatest relevance for our communities"
The challenges for implementing the new programmes and the impact of the new rules introduced by the EU's cohesion policy reform will be the focus of a joint meeting between the European parliament's regional development committee and the Committee of the Regions' commission for territorial cohesion policy.
The meeting will launch a new phase of cooperation between the two institutions who signed a partnership agreement earlier this year that seeks to improve synergies and political collaboration. Over the past few years sub-national public authorities in the EU were responsible for one third of public expenditure.
Open Days will offer cohesion policy practitioners the opportunity to acquire and update their competences, while allowing them to provide feedback to decision makers. Our aim is to proactively prevent any delay in implementing measures that are of the greatest relevance for our communities.
Special attention will be devoted to assessing the impact of the cohesion policy reform adopted in 2013. We are confident that some of the main achievements of the reforms will help regions and cities deliver sustainable growth with more targeted investment.
"Over recent years, the convergence among regions has come to a halt and, quite worryingly, we are seeing increased disparities between and inside EU countries"
Nonetheless, we need to carefully monitor the reform's impact on the plans implementation, with a view to the destabilising potential of the new rules on freezing funds in countries whose national governments have failed to respect fiscal consolidation targets.
Despite the shared work undertaken in collaboration with the European parliament – which succeeded in reducing the negative consequences of these provisions – such a rule risks introducing an element of uncertainty in the regional multiannual investment plans.
This year we will debate the European commission's sixth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion, the Eurostat's 2014 edition of the regional yearbook, as well as the OECD's report on regional wellbeing and regional outlook 2014. At the opening session Angel Gurría, the OECD's secretary-general, will present the two flagship publications and their main findings. Regional policy practitioners, experts, EU policy officers and management authorities know that the Open Days is the place to be.