EU-wide coalition advocates for stronger cohesion policy

The partners of the CohesionAlliance — an EU-wide coalition for stronger cohesion policy — have signed a joint declaration to reinforce cohesion policy and increase the territorial impact of all EU investments. The partners commit to working towards common goals, including keeping cohesion policy as the EU's most important investment policy and most visible instrument at local and regional level; and as a long-term development policy based on principles of shared management, partnership and multilevel governance.

The need for cohesion policy is highlighted by the recent crises, such as the consequences of the ongoing climate emergency, the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia's war against Ukraine and the current record inflation rates triggered by increased food and energy prices.

The joint declaration was signed in Brussels on 12 October 2022 during the European Week of Regions and Cities. The Cohesion Alliance was created through cooperation between the leading European associations of cities and regions and the European Committee of the Regions.

Read more on the website of the Committee of the Regions

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an official EU institution, which must be consulted whenever proposals are made in areas that affect local and regional authorities. The CoR has 329 members representing local and regional authorities from all 27 EU Member States. The CoR’s Finnish delegation has nine members.

The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities acts as the secretariat for the Finnish delegation.

We publish summaries of the most important CoR news on Localfinland.fi. You can read the news in full on the CoR’s website.