Overpopulation of migrant reception centres on the island of Samos has reached the point of no return, with the local community and local authorities left overwhelmed and demanding assistance from the Greek government.
Low profitability and poor infrastructure quality make farming in Greece unattractive to young people, who are needed more than ever before to take the agricultural sector a step forward, stakeholders have told EURACTIV Greece.
The amount of investment mobilised by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) may have been overestimated, a new report by the European Court of Auditors has warned. It added that it may have also favoured larger member states.
Social outcomes in Cohesion policy remain relatively obscure for the general public compared to economic developments, a recent project study has found. In addition to that, the process of reaching local audiences remains a challenge for policymakers and organisations across the European regions.
There is nothing new in the anti-fraud policy recommendations that the European Court of Auditors tabled on Thursday (10 January), the EU Commissioner for Budget Günther H. Oettinger has said.
There is no room for double standards in the future Cohesion policy but there is a need for cooperation between funds and programmes, key partners and civil society, the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy told a Committee of the Regions (CoR) plenary session in Brussels on Wednesday (December 5).
Continuous depopulation of the EU's rural regions and interregional disparities remain a serious threat for the economic and demographic base of the EU regions in the future, stakeholders highlighted during a conference on territorial divergencies in the EU held in Brussels on Tuesday (27 November).
Only weeks before a European Council meeting in December is to define funding for regional development across Europe beyond 2020, regions are still in the dark about what will be the final decision on the future of Cohesion Policy.
Europe's regions are in urgent need of concrete measures to boost their local economy and their European dimension, stakeholders highlighted during the General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in Madeira, Portugal on Thursday (October 18).
Cohesion Policy is one the most important but still insufficiently known tools for EU integration, stakeholders highlighted during a EURACTIV forum in Brussels on Wednesday (10 October), where they called for a better communication to counter Euroscepticism.
EU citizens want more Europe, but they want a Europe that works, a former US ambassador to the EU told the closing ceremony of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2018 in Brussels on Thursday (October 11). Europe’s comparative...
Portugal was the big winner of the RegioStars awards 2018 in Brussels, a project promoting regional innovation, cohesion and culture in the EU, with two awards for its innovation in sustainable industrial technologies and the promotion of cultural heritage.
With the European Week of Regions and Cities starting on 8 September, the debate on Cohesion Policy and its future in the EU's long-term budget 2020 is at the forefront. The European Economic and Social Committee will play a determining role in the debate and the final agreement on the proposal.
When it comes to European structural funds, one of the main concerns is the capacity of the member states to attract them. Cooperation between public authorities has proven to be a driving factor.
Ahead of the European Week of Regions and Cities, the debate on Cohesion policy continues to spark tension inside the Brussels bubble as well as among stakeholders and networks of regions and cities across Europe.
From Calarasi to Ruse, from Costanza to Veliko Tarnovo, EU Cohesion Policy has supported hundreds of actions and infrastructure investment in the fields of transport, science, education, youth employment, environment and support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Romania and Bulgaria.
Delays in the formulation of legal frameworks and spending plans create severe obstacles to an effective use of Cohesion funding, shifting the focus on quick use of money rather than on performance and results, a new Court of Auditors report published Thursday (13 September) underlined.
European regions and cities were left wondering about the noticeable absence of Cohesion policy in Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union speech in the European Parliament on Wednesday (12 September). They were particularly irked by his failure to highlight the positive role of regions in handling migration.
Prolonging the Cohesion debate and postponing the final agreement will have a negative impact on the policy’s essence and content, but will also further affect the European idea, participants underlined during a hearing at the European Economic and Social Committee on Thursday (6 September).
The European Economic and Social Committee expressed strong disagreement with the Commission’s proposal to cut Cohesion policy funds by 10% in a recent opinion, saying the EU executive must show sensitivity for the current political environment rather than focus only...
Project-selection procedures in the EU's Cohesion policy remain oriented towards outputs and spending rather than driven by expected results, a new report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA) underlined.
Dangers of backsliding can already be identified in the European Commission’s proposal for Cohesion Policy in the next seven-year EU budget, warns the Committee of the Regions’ Catiuscia Marini. But she says the aim is to reach a framework agreement on resources and rules before the current term expires.
The European Commission's plans to overhaul and slash Cohesion Policy spending in the next seven year EU budget are going in the wrong direction, says the Committee of the Regions' Michael Schneider.
