In the margins of the Political Council, a delegation of Partenalia of Partenalia political representatives headed by President Baltar met with President Alves Cordeiro of the European Committee of the Regions to convey the demand of Partenalia members consisting in including the word “province – NUTS III” in the eligibility criteria of those calls for European funding programs that are most relevant to this level of government. President Cordeiro highlighted the recent adoption of the new Cohesion Alliance (2.0) during the latest Plenary Session of the CoR. President Baltar will meet again with President Alves Cordeiro to officially support the new Alliance in line with its support to the previous Alliance as Local Intermediate Authorities are key actors of European Cohesion notably through their successful and efficient management of EU funds.
President Baltar highlighted the support Partenalia members to the Marseille Manifesto insisting on the significance of point n°5 :
“We therefore call for the European Committee of the Regions to be gradually upgraded beyond its current consultative function towards a binding role in a limited number of policy areas with a clear territorial dimension while avoiding additional complexity in the EU. Giving greater consideration to the expertise of local and regional authorities in the elaboration and implementation of EU law will lead to better regulation and greater democratic legitimacy in the EU. This reinforcement of the principle of subsidiarity can be achieved by granting the European Committee of the Regions better access to negotiations between the EU institutions on legislative proposals (trilogues) and by giving regional parliaments, in duly defined circumstances, a formal role in proposing EU legislation.”
Then Vice-President Carlos Bielsa of the Diputación de Valencia also met with the Vice-president of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development, Mr. Krzysztof Hetman, to convey the same proposal which received his support.
Indeed, having spent his entire political career prior to his mandate as an MEP at the local level, the Vice-president is very attentive to the challenges that local governments face.
Vice-president Hetman fully supported the proposal and considers, as a starting point for negotiations, asking the European Commission that some 30% of regional funds go directly to the provinces.
