The fifth Cohesion Report: a new emphasis on cities and regions
The Lisbon Treaty has added territorial cohesion to the goals of economic and social cohesion. As a result, it is necessary to address this objective in new programmes, with particular emphasis on the role of cities, functional geographies, areas facing specific geographical or demographic problems and macro-regional strategies. The Commission's 5th Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion ‘Investing in Europe’s Future’ shows that the EU's cohesion policy has made a significant contribution to growth and prosperity and promoting balanced development across the Union. However, as a result of the economic crisis, the policy now needs to adapt to address new challenges.
Description
This 300+ page document describes the economic, social and
territorial situation and trends in the EU by considering how to
(1) promote economic competitiveness and convergence, (2) improve
well-being and reduce social exclusion, and (3) enhance
environmental sustainability. It also assesses how national and
other EU policies have contributed to cohesion, and what
possibilities for improvement could be.
The aim of this report is to support the EU2020 strategy, and to
highlight the contributions that can be made to meet these policy
objectives. An important conclusion is that limited public
resources should be used to maximum effect, which demands EU,
national, regional and local policies to be mutually reinforcing.
Effective implementation of the EU2020 strategy requires a
governance system that involves agents of change in all levels of
administration. In this context, it is stressed that the role of
local development approaches under cohesion policy should be
reinforced. Also, monitoring and evaluation systems should be
improved.
It is also argued that an ambitious urban agenda should be
developed: urban areas can be the engines of growth and hubs for
creativity and innovation. Higher growth levels and new jobs can be
created, provided a critical mass of actors like companies,
universities and researchers is established. Urban problems,
whether related to environmental degradation or to social
exclusion, call for a specific response and for direct involvement
of the level of government concerned.
Furthermore, the document provides a wealth of information on
topics ranging from social inclusion to competitiveness on all
Member States.
Readers are explicitly invited to respond to questions which the
commission has posed in the conclusion ‘on the future of cohesion
policy’, for instance:
- How can cohesion policy take better account of the key role of urban areas and of territories with particular geographical features in development processes and of the emergence of macro-regional strategies?
- How can the partnership principle and involvement of local and
regional stakeholders, social partners and civil society be
improved?
Contact
The commission invites all stakeholders to share responses
to the questions in this document.
Publication date
November 2010
Document type
Policy
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