Partenalia held a meeting of its Political Council in Lucca on April, 22nd.
Following the review of the activities of the past year, the members have unanimously elected Mr. Bartolomé Nofuentes – representing the Mancomunidad de l’Horta Sud – as the new president of the network as well as Mr. Menesini – representing the Provincia di Lucca – and Mr. Alin-Adrian Nica – representing the Judet of Timis- as the new vice-presidents.
The members then welcomed the Département des Bouches-du-Rhône (CD13) as a new observing member of Partenalia (please see the members section).
An ambitious Action Plan has been discussed and voted for the year to come:
In addition to the technical assistance provided to the members, three Working Groups will focus on:
- Heritage Digitalisation
- Town and Provincial Twinning
- The Fight against Rural Depopulation
In the context of the negotiations on the future of the Cohesion Policy which was the topic of the CEPLI (vice-presidency held by Partenalia) political conference on the following day, the network will actively lobby EU institutions to insist on the significance for a percentage EU funds to directly reach Local Intermediate Authorities given that increased centralisation of EU funds management has been repeatedly shown to decrease the efficiency of their use when compared to local development necessities and their impact on local populations.
