The name of the policy is Cohesion Policy
Cohesion Policy has been very important in the last few years in particular.
This policy gives a face to Europe in the territories.
It gives leverage to make big changes.
Our member states, and members of the parliament
do not always know what Cohesion Funds are doing in their regions.
Sometimes they think that it is only bringing money to Brussels and getting it back,
so, they say that if we don't have to send it to Brussels we can spend it here.
Often, people don't know where this money actually ends up.
A lot of people have the feeling that Europe and politicians are not concerned about their situation.
In regards to Cohesion Policy,
knowing that Brexit will reduce the European budget,
we know that cuts are concentrated on Cohesion Policy.
We have many projects in Karlsruhe related to finding modern and innovative solutions,
for instance, in the start-up scene and the digital scene.
We have many social projects that are co-financed by European funds.
In particular, we have received good impetus
through European support in the area of mobility,
linking together mobility in the city and in the entire region
and developing a very modern, multimodal offer for citizens.
One of the big issues we have is the lack of qualified workers,
especially in science and technology,
and therefore, we had the idea to make a cooperation
and create a research institute and a learning institute at university level.
We managed to do it ourselves, of course, with help from the Cohesion Funds.
There are many projects that will build the innovation infrastructure in our regions.
We talked about projects where small and medium sized enterprises were involved,
but we also had several projects dealing with young people.
You need to give them an opportunity to find a future in society.
For Emilia-Romagna alone, as an example that can be used for other territories,
€2.5 billion was available to universities, municipalities, territories, and the business world for 7 years,
Auvergne Rhône Alpes is the leading French region for industrial enterprises
but the second in terms of research and innovation,
so, our entire financing strategy is built on European funding leverage
for some large research and innovation projects which are linked
in decompartmentalization with industrial enterprises, with the economy,
and with all our research centres.
There is about €400 million arriving in Tuscany from Cohesion Funds,
this allows us to do things that otherwise would not be possible;
from small/micro businesses, small companies that would not have the strength behind them to bring new projects,
ideas and start-ups to jobs, innovation and growth towards the future, which is called Europe.
I believe that the European level is currently the only level
that really tries to rigorously meet certain challenges.
All of the impetus for climate policy,
clean air in cities, sustainability, for example in avoiding plastic waste,
was set in motion at the European level in recent years, and not from the national parliament.
It would not have been possible solely through the means of local government.
It's therefore very important that we receive European funds
to implement Europe-wide sustainability strategies
The most important thing is that the Cohesion Fund is within a period of 7 years,
if you go to the national level, you can only get one year of funding,
and that will create uncertainty for all of the projects.
If it were only financed by the national, local, or regional level,
you would never have these cross-border activities,
but now the cross-border activities are very important,
especially concerning environmental matters.
It's very important that Cohesion Policy involves all the regions of Europe.
I have always though that it was good,
also as a mission of the European Union, and of Cohesion Policy,
to help the less developed areas.
But the idea that we should only help less developed regions is wrong in its nature,
because it risks being an impediment to regions that grow, to regions that create jobs,
Stopping aid to regions that have made progress will not automatically let you help regions that are in more trouble;
We have to invite citizens to bridge the gap that exists between
Brussels, the image, the place of Europe,
and their own lives. We can only come to the problems of the people
When they are talking and telling us about their own situation.
We have had 8 regional dialogues throughout Sweden.
People from different sectors met,
to have discussions about the future of Europe
and the future of Cohesion Policy.
There were many young people who understood and appreciated the projects,
they saw themselves as protagonists of Europe.
They are our first testimonials because they are the ones who show the importance of Europe to their families and municipalities.
We had a dialogue with our members of parliament
to have an understanding of all the projects that we have in the region.
We also pointed out that the European funds have a big multiplier effect.
The Brussels euro invested in our region gives back four euros.
We hope that we gave them a broader view of the impact of Cohesion Funds.
Our idea is to repeat the initiative,
maybe to expand it in the provinces of the Tuscan region.
Of course, we need the European Union to continue to provide funding
because we put our passion and energy into it, and the European Union must put in the other piece,
put ourselves in a position to give the right information to reach everyone.
Now I think it's important for us to have these dialogues once again,
but now it's time to have discussions about the next programming period.
One important part of this discussion is to involve the local and regional level
not only when you have already decided upon the project but also in creating the projects.
It's on the local and regional level that you can understand the needs of your area.
The MEPs and the newly elected MEPs
would do well
to consider the importance of cities
and the local level decisions.
Important decisions made by the European Parliament
and also proposed by the Commission
can be implemented and successful
if the local and regional levels implement
the relevant provisions, laws and proposals.
Only then can joint efforts achieve their objectives.
I hope that the future of Cohesion Policy will be strong.
We have to make it a more mission-driven programme,
so that people in our countries and regions can see the mission of the programme,
and how we as regions work all together on the same mission.
If the budget were to small, you would be cutting people off from experiencing European politics
in their everyday lives, and that wouldn't be good.
Cohesion Policy is important.
So I hope that the battle we have made and the work we have done
can make us reflect on a further reduction of the possible cut to Cohesion Funds.