What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:87. Calls for intraregional disparities to be addressed by paying more attention to the diversity of territories; calls on the Commission to consider the possibility of assessing initial allocations and co-financing rates on the basis of NUTS 3 in order for funding to be directed to where it is most needed and to prevent the emergence of pockets of poverty and underdevelopment; underlines that such a shift should take into account possible negative effects on EU financing for larger urban areas, such as metropolitan areas;

Added:88. Considers that, when allocating funds for local projects in urban and rural areas, the focus should be on joint projects of common interest, while also promoting the participation of SMEs; calls for smaller regional financial instruments to be combined with larger regional initiatives to enhance their efficiency and policy impact; calls on the Commission to provide guidance and planning support, especially for integrated territorial and small projects, to avoid decommitments and repurposing; highlights the importance of strengthening the bottom-up approach to territorial development, which is a vehicle for social innovation and capacity building;

Added:89. Underlines the importance of good governance at all levels in the management of cohesion policy; highlights that the quality of governance structures can determine the optimal mix of investment priorities in order to achieve the necessary multilevel vertical and horizontal coordination to design and deliver integrated development strategies;

Added:90. Calls for a strengthened representation of urban and rural authorities in the monitoring committees, which could co-assess the effectiveness of the management of the funds; reiterates that these representatives should, inter alia, share responsibility for programming and reprogramming in order to respect multilevel governance;

Added:91. Calls on the Commission to take the necessary measures to address the shortcomings identified in the management of the cohesion policy funds by the managing authorities, while, at the same time, simplifying access to technical assistance in order to improve the administrative and management capacities of the competent entities;

Added:92. Calls for further involvement of Commission initiatives, such as the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, in the process of designing and implementing the next generation of cohesion policy rules; believes that city networks play an indispensable role in bridging the gap between policymaking and implementation on the ground; acknowledges that policy and implementation support, geared towards mayors and local authorities, generates significantly better outcomes in the context of policy implementation;

Added:93. Stresses that differences exist between Member States when it comes to the competences of local and regional authorities; calls for an enhanced place-based approach to bring cohesion policy management closer to the regional and local level; stresses that preparatory work, adequate administrative capacity and institutional backing are indispensable in order to ensure the effectiveness of the policy, reduce the number of irregularities and fraud, and avoid additional administrative burdens for managing authorities, contractors and final beneficiaries;

Added:94. Is convinced that promoting an increased sense of local and regional ownership in the long term, as well as the durability of EU projects and higher co-financing leverage, can be achieved through increased fiscal capacity for regions and municipalities; acknowledges that such a path would improve the borrowing capacity of regions and municipalities linked to financial instruments provided by the EU budget; underlines that regional and local budgets should be able to compensate for the impact of inflation shocks and possible crises on EU co-financed projects;

Added:95. Calls for the further involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group in cohesion policy investments, especially in less-developed regions, through support for sustainable cities, sustainable energy, the circular economy, green jobs and local and regional innovation projects, including through increased use of financial instruments and support for private sector investment; calls for the expansion of the local and regional project assistance and financial instruments that complement and leverage EU grants; acknowledges that in many Member States, EIB financing, such as structural programme loans, contributes significantly to the national co-financing obligations under cohesion policy, which in turn facilitates and accelerates the implementation of the programmes;

Added:96. Underlines that technical, financial and administrative capacity is essential in ensuring that managing bodies and local and regional authorities acquire technical knowledge, especially on climate change, which they can use for urban and rural planning and management; is convinced that this will lead to better design and evaluation of project proposals, more effective allocation of resources and satisfactory budgetary implementation without significant risk of decommitments;

Added:97. Calls for existing technical assistance and advisory programmes to specifically target smaller municipalities and cross-border, remote and rural areas, as well as the outermost and island regions, to help them face new challenges such as the green transition and climate change; underlines the importance, in this respect, of technical assistance instruments being developed in collaboration between the EIB and the Commission, including on energy efficiency; calls for targeted support in the form of 100 % EU financing for technical, financial and administrative capacity building, project design and preparation, identifying and building a project pipeline, as well as strategic planning capabilities, including planning instruments; believes that the URBIS platform, as a single point of contact for municipalities, should be further developed;

Added:98. Insists on a critical review of the Commission’s ad hoc initiatives and the thorough screening of new initiatives regarding their quality and quantity; demands that this process be managed jointly and in partnership, with guaranteed representation at the local level, including of cities and rural areas, and of regions and civil society organisations; warns that the proliferation of Commission ad hoc initiatives financed by cohesion policy funds, without added value for the local and regional level, risks undermining the effectiveness of the overall cohesion appropriations planned in advance; insists that every new Commission initiative be accompanied by a corresponding budgetary top-up;

°

° °

Change 16

Changed:18.99. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions,Regions and the national and regional parliaments of the Member States.