The President of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), has announced that he is concerned about the drastic reform that may be operationalised in the European Union Budget.
At stake is the model for centralised management in Brussels and the Central Governments of the multiannual financial framework, starting in 2028. In the message marking the 27th anniversary of CALRE, which has been celebrated since the 7th of October 1997, José Manuel Rodrigues stresses that “changes in the architecture of the European Union Budget from 2028 onwards that call into question the powers of the Regions and their decision-making capacity in the execution of community funds are not acceptable.”
The President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, who this year presides over CALRE, says that “it is with great concern that we see the announcement of an attempt to centralise the management of the funds in the Commission and national governments, drastically reducing the action of governments and regional parliaments in their application. This is all the more unacceptable when we know that the Regions have taken decisive action in European Cohesion, reducing inequalities to asymmetries of growth and development.”
José Manuel Rodrigues considers that this attempt to centralise powers, which have proved to be very positive when exercised at regional level, calls into question the essence of European Cohesion Policy and represents a hard blow to the Regions, which have always proved to be effective in the application of the Operational Programmes, Policies, and Funds made available to them.”
For this reason, he called on “the European Commission, the Council, and the European Parliament to take into account the powers and competences of the Regions in the new Multiannual Financial Framework, as these have been proving to be essential in the construction of Europe, on the basis of sustainable development, economic convergence, and territorial and social cohesion.”
“On this Day, when the Conference of Regional Legislative Assemblies of Europe (CALRE) marks its anniversary, I reaffirm, as its President, the commitment of the European Regions to contribute to the process of building the European Union, to its aggrandizement and the strengthening of its political and economic position in the World,” writes José Manuel Rodrigues in the message addressed to the 72 Regional Parliaments of Europe.
He also highlights that “the Regions have been essential in the process of European construction and as a power of connection between the institutions of the Union and the citizens. That is why it is important to strengthen the participation of regional parliaments in the legislative process and to give the regions new powers to implement the Union’s policies and to maintain the regionalisation of European funds.
The philosophy of the principle of subsidiarity – power closer to the citizens – is at stake and this centralisation can lead to conflicts and litigation between Regions and Member States, which are completely unnecessary,” he concluded.
The 72 European Legislative Assemblies, which make up CALRE, represent 210 million citizens.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
