The future of the EU budget is critical for building Europe’s resilience, cohesion and competitiveness. Faced with unprecedented challenges, from increasing climate risks to geopolitical uncertainty, local and regional governments are essential to delivering Europe’s priorities.
They build resilience locally to cushion growing climate risks and ensure energy security through local renewable production. They channel billions into sustainable infrastructure and public services and act as first respondents to disasters, providing a safety net in times of crisis. They ensure access to affordable housing while also creating hubs of innovation and activity. Local and regional authorities are key partners to achieving a prosperous Europe, where people want to live, work and thrive.
To deliver on the EU’s priorities – ensuring competitiveness, resiliency and security – the future EU budget needs to count on local and regional governments. And for this, a bold reform needs to take place.
That’s why the Local Alliance – a coalition of Europe’s eight major networks of local and regional governments – has come together to respond with one unified voice to the European Commission’s public consultation on the next EU budget.
The joint position papers call for three critical reforms to ensure the next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) delivers real results:
The first paper focuses on multilevel governance, urging a step-change in how multilevel governance is applied to the EU budget.
Multilevel governance should be fully mainstreamed across all relevant elements of the next EU budget – from the earliest design of the MFF, through program planning and implementation, to monitoring and evaluation.
The Local Alliance calls on the European Commission to:
The second paper focuses on designing better reforms to reinvent public support for a grounded Europe.
The future EU budget aims to link investment with reform, following the model of the Recovery and Reslience Facility.
While not all reforms are local in nature, it is essential that local and regional governments have a seat at the table on the reforms that are important for their mandate and competencies when the “Menu” of Reforms is discussed between the European Commission and national governments.
Excluding local and regional governments from defining possible and adequate reforms risks missing critical policies, failing to identify and effectively address local gaps, and setting the wrong priorities.
The Local Alliance calls on the European Commission to:
The third paper focuses on reinforcing European industry’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy through a place-based approach.
European cities and regions are at the heart of the European Union’s competitiveness. Their investments account for about two thirds of the increase in total public investments in the EU in 2023, mostly in key sectors like energy, social affairs and transport.
They play a pivotal role in shaping the conditions for industries and businesses through land-use planning, infrastructure development, education, housing, research, training, and the quality of life. Cities, regions and their energy agencies across Europe also support SMEs and large industries in increasing their competitiveness through tailored programmes for innovation and decarbonisation.
At the same time, cities and regions act as key demand drivers for clean and low-carbon materials and products, especially in transport, buildings, and energy sectors. By sending clear market signals to clean industries in Europe (“Buy European”), cities and regions contribute to a mutually beneficial dynamic that advances economic, social, and environmental goals together.
The Local Alliance calls on the European Commission to: