 Okay, so let me very briefly tell you that it's a great privilege to have you here with us today. Thank you. We consider you a very big friend of our media, you know, so we welcome you back. We strongly appreciate our partnership that's, you know, enabled us to answer to this very difficult pandemic. We want to work together with you and we want to work together to intensify, as I said earlier, our individual COI joint actions which are based on truly objective to identify the needs of all the capacity-building for indigenous cities, villages that are planning to be mentioned in the new petition policy and secondly, communicating jointly on the ground and in Brussels, the added value of benefits of proficient people's everyday life. So for these two objectives, we can work together with using over 12,000 cohesional partners to mitigate the regions. I really believe that by working together, we can find a way to involve regions and cities even more in the coronavirus pandemic response and recovery plan. So thank you very much, agenda commissioner, for being here today and the floor is now yours. Okay. Thank you very much. I haven't heard, in fact, your words, your kind words, so it's really a very, it's also a pleasure for me to be able to participate in your assembly, in your plenary and I think this, I mean, this periodic meetings are essential for us to keep in touch and for understanding how much we are being able together to achieve our common purposes. And in fact, as you have just underlined, we are partners and we are natural allies in because our interests are common. I have prepared for the sake of time. I have prepared a couple of notes. And so I will suggest that we start by it and then I'm open to questions or to comments and usual discussions as we usually do. So I will start immediately. Dear president and honorable members and ladies and gentlemen, in fact, a lot has happened since we last met in plenary and I think it was the 12th of October, if I'm not mistaken, of the 2020, so of last year. And back then, we were still negotiating the cohesion policy files. And there was a certain uncertainty regarding the final adoption of the multi-annual financial framework and next generation. Think back, we can see how much we have done since then, all of us altogether. And now, ReactU has already entered into force. The first instrument, in fact, to be approved from the next generation package. The Just Transition Fund and Interreg are now ready for final adoption. A political agreement has been reached on the recovery and resilience facility. And we have already made substantial progress with the support, a very strong support from the Committee of the Regions from the European Parliament and also from within the framework of the German presidency. We almost finished the regulations and we are expecting that both the Common Nations Regulation and the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund Regulations probably will be able to seal the deal next week. That's our hope in the final trilogues already now with the Portuguese presidency. And I want also to express my thanks to this committee. Because you are always very active. You have done a relentless work. Your unwavering support has been essential. And these regulations laid the basis, I hope, for a sustainable recovery. And also a long-term transition to the green and digital economy, hopefully for every region in Europe. This is our shared goal. We managed to put cohesion, in fact, at the center of this emergency response of the economic recovery, of the just transition, and recently, as an important element of the response also to Brexit, because we have another instrument which is also being prepared and automated, which is the Brexit Adjustment Reserve. So now I think it's the time to shift from plans to implementation. We use this kind of image in other occasions. But in fact, in the crisis, and with the Coronavirus Responsive Investment Initiative, which was discreet and crippled, that was really something completely new that we did with your support. And we have put what I could call our firefighter's helmet in our work on the regulations. We got out our architects' blueprints. But now it's time for the engineers and for the workers to implement. So it's now a lot on your shoulders and member states' shoulders. And in fact, we need to use all our capacities, all our engineers' toolbox and construction toolbox. So the challenge now is to build back better after the crisis, to build a new, a greener, a more digital economy, to provide jobs and opportunities in every region. And in short, we must get out of the toolbox and build forward in a better way. And get to work we must, because we have been given a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It's the opportunity of an enhanced and expanded cohesion policy, the opportunity of the new recovery and resilience facility, which is really a big thing. And in the next few years, many regions will see their European funding double. In certain cases, almost triple. So, ladies and gentlemen, we must make the most of this historic occasion. Today, I suggest that we review the main opportunities and let us share our practical reflections on making the most for all our regions. No region left behind. No European forgotten is a nice slogan, but now we have got to put it in practice. And I would like to underline three points. First, in fact, I want to reaffirm this idea that we have to make the most of cohesion policy. It's our test also on delivery. There are, in fact, more instruments, more opportunities, more investment than ever before. To start with, let us use to the full. And the regions are already using it to the full. The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative. For you to have an idea of where we are, 180 cohesion programs have already been amended in a very speedy way, so very fast. A lot of reprogramming has been done through simplification at the regional or national level. And we have mobilized the 20 billion euros of cohesion investment from the national envelopes, as you know, that were not, that were unspent to counter the crisis. With this money, and a lot of freedom has been given to member states to reallocate as they need. But 4,520 liters are being supplied. 500 laboratories across Europe supported for being able to test for COVID. A million small and medium enterprises are receiving grants. And I mean, a lot of other support to schools, to computers. I mean, different member states used it differently. Regions are benefiting from it. And this is really something that often we are not aware of the role of cohesion policy in this process. The crisis is not yet over. And if your region, if you find that there is still an allocated cohesion investment from the 2014-2020 period, of course, I urge you to speak with local program managers about if you don't have already allocated money to specific projects that still, I mean, are going on. But if there is some empty and some needs on the other end, you can still mobilize it for healthcare or for economic support. Second instrument, let us make the most also of ReactU. This is a 47.5 billion euros of new resources borrowed from the financial markets. So we cannot yet use this money. But we can use some sort of transition bridge finance so that when the money is available, it can refinance because one of the characteristics of ReactU is that it can finance back projects that provided they are a response to the crisis and provided they have started after the 1st of February, 2020. So my services are working with the national and regional authorities to ensure these resources reach the real economy as soon as possible. And I ask for your support in three areas. First, in ensuring that investment swiftly reaches the regions where they are needed most. In fact, this instrument ReactU is a cohesion policy instrument. Second, that your support for investment is also regarding the future that is not some money that lives nothing on the ground. And so these climate objectives, digital transition, strengthening the resilience of healthcare systems, creating employment, and employing young people is important. So if you can relaunch the economy, tackle the coronavirus impact, but create something that remains after the crisis, it's much better than just having expenditure. And third, your support also in ensuring that the partnership principle is respected. And of course we are under pressure. We are in a crisis mode, but swift programming does not mean programming without partners. So this is an instrument React that really is very, it's a strong potential is the follow-up of degree instrument. And up to 2023, I think it is a very important instrument. Then let us make the most of the so-called usual or more traditional regional fund and cohesion fund. And I'm very proud of the agreement we have reached there. More simplification, a single regulation covering the regional fund and cohesion fund. A sharp reduction of implementing acts. So a strong thematic concentration, I call your attention towards this element with a focus on the future, on the green and digital transitions. There are also more resources for cities and a dedicated priority for tourism and culture. And also health infrastructures can be supported. And you know these funds very well, so I don't want to spend time with this. You know the importance of being involved right now in the programming phase. Make sure the voice of the regions are heard. Make sure the voice of all partners are heard. Make sure the programs focus on the long-term needs of your regions. Let us make the most also of the just transition fund. This is 17.5 billion euros to support those that are most affected by the climate transition. This is very specific for these very critical transitions in very critical areas. So this is a kind of a pilot experiment. The key next step here is for member states to present to us the local built, the bottom-up built territorial just transition plans. Member states are responsible for drawing this up, but it needs a lot of active involvement at local level. In this context, I welcome your offer of a multi-level dialogue as a part of this just transition platform. We must in fact work on the practicalities and timing, but your context, your contribution will definitely add value to this platform. So this is my first point. I just tried to highlight the kind of instruments that are available now. Nothing new for you, but I think it might be used to have a broad view of what is available. And in fact, there are massive opportunities. Nevertheless, there are other sources of support outside the pure cohesion policy. And this brings me to the second point, making the most of other instruments. I think it's very important to highlight the best possible way to combine, for instance, instruments that are not partnership instruments, they are more typical EU initiative instruments, such as Horizon, engage more and more at the regional level. And it's very important your connection and establishment already have a framework with Horizon. Also with social fund, but I would like to call your attention to the recovery and resilience facility, because it is an unprecedented instrument. It's 672.5 billion of loans and grants, supporting investments and reforms. And it is important to note that the key next step here is the preparation that is underway already by member states of recovery and resilience plans. You have a crucial role in these plans. Member states must outline how they plan, how their plan will contribute also to promote growth-inducing reforms, enhancing cohesion, taking into account local, regional, national disparities, and you are the voice of regions here in Brussels. So I strongly encourage you to continue to speak out on this, because in fact, the recovery and resilience facility cannot be territorially blind. I particularly ask for your support in ensuring a complementarity and consistency with the goals and the instruments of cohesion policy that I've just referred to. But you also have a role in encouraging local voices. We in the Commission believe that these plans will only be successful with strong regional and local ownership at every stage of the process. We have assured a strong consultation process. Member states will have to provide a summary of the consultation process they have done with local and regional authorities, with social partners, civil society organizations, with youth organizations, and other relevant stakeholders. And this covers both the preparation and implementation of the plan. They will also have to explain all these inputs of the stakeholders were reflected, in fact, in the plan to put content in the dialogue. I count on your support in informing all the relevant partners of their right to be involved in the process, because this creates the ownership, the national and regional and local ownership of the process. And my third point, we must make the most of our partners and of the possibilities also to enhance local and regional and central, of course, administrative capacities. In fact, the... In fact, wait a minute, sorry, because my computer went down. Just a minute. Yes. Yes. The quality of national, regional, and local governance will be, in fact, crucial in the recovery and in long-term investments. The technical support instrument exists. It's being used now by all member states. And this is a support from the Commission, from DG Reform, to build, in fact, to help member states and regions and local and municipalities to build their administrative capacity and to support reforms. Support under the instrument is not just, as I just mentioned, directed towards national authorities. Regional, local authorities can also submit requests for technical support. And this is a service and an opportunity offering support for your priorities at your request. And I urge you to do it because, in fact, it's a very sound support. I would also draw your attention to the opportunity of the technical support and their cohesion policy. We recognize the importance of capacity building, not just for delivering projects, but for economic recovery and long-term development. We support administrative capacity for local authorities who are managing authorities or beneficiaries. And we are encouraging member states to be strategic about this. So in the 21-27 period, also, I have launched the option of roadmaps for developing administrative capacity and to support the roadmaps, these roadmaps. We offer a toolkit as well as peer learning. And so I encourage you to participate and to make the most of this. Partnership with local actors is key to our success in equation policy. And the partnership principle is dear, as you know, to our hearts. So in all the new programs, my services are paying particular attention to the code of conduct on partnership and to the application of the partnership principle. We know that the application of this principle differs by member state. So the commission has set up a dramatic network on partnership to discuss the issues and spread good practices. We are looking at how citizens, especially young people, are making their voice heard in delivery of the policy. And I ask for your help in identifying and filling gaps in the application of the partnership principle. And I also ask for your help in analyzing and spreading good practices. And in 2020, we launched two new pilot initiatives to support the capacity of managing authorities and of civil society to actively engage citizens in implementing cohesion policy. I also treasure your collaboration on the European week of regions and cities. This is an enormous success story. And I congratulate you on all, everything that you have done, in particular you and your team president. This was really in fact a tribute and success was attributed to the excellent cooperation between our services in the commission and your services. Last year, in spite of the pandemic, the week was an unprecedented success. There were over 800 partners, more than ever before. There were over 500 sessions, also more than ever before. There were nearly 12,000 participants, again, more than ever before. This is an opportunity to connect with partners and to exchange ideas and good practices. And I look forward to our best year ever for this year. So in conclusion, and I'm sorry I took a bit long, but I wanted to update you on what is on the ground now. Some say there is no such thing as luck. There is only the moment when preparation meets opportunity. So solid preparation, meeting a moment of opportunity. We have years of preparation from our work together, our work on cohesion policy, on partnership principle, on the week of regions and cities. Over the years, this work has already paid off, but now we face a moment of incredible opportunity. And this opportunity is the opportunity to work with an expanded cohesion policy, enhanced budget, new funds, the opportunity to add new investments, such as the recovery and resilience facility and the technical support instrument, the opportunity to put this together for a strong and sustainable recovery and a successful twin transition to a green and digital economy. And the opportunity to deepen also our partnership in a new and innovative way, of course. And I urge you to be present in every plan and every program to speak up for the principles of cohesion and for the rights of the partners. Let our actions in the coming years give them a good story to tell. So thank you very much once again. I apologize for having taken a little bit longer, but I want it really, as I mentioned before, to share with you where we are and to tell you how much I count and we count here in the G-regio, how much we count on you and your work and your enthusiasm and your capacity to deliver in this so special phase of our life together. Thank you very much once again. Thank you very much, Commissioner Ferreira. Of course, we didn't interrupt you because I really believe that you had very important things to say. And as a matter of fact, I feel that today's debate is of crucial importance, basically also for its timing. So please, without further ado, let me give the floor to Olga Gieblevich from the EPP. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Dear Madam Commissioner, first of all I would like to thank you for your informative intervention and underlining the special role of local and regional authorities. And for a great work you have done during the last months as an EPP, CUR President as well as the President of West Pomerania region, one of the biggest regions in Poland with a size of 70% of Belgium. I perfectly know how much our villages, cities and regions have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic and we don't have a time to lose. What we expect is the following. First, to speed up the process of shaping the new operational programs which will answer our local needs and allow us to realize projects on the ground in the fast track. Second, we expect the European Commission to ensure that EU funds are distributed in transparent and fair procedure between not only countries, but between all cities and regions as well. Third, to ensure that local and regional authorities are fully taken on the board when drawing the national recovery plans and this will speed up their creation and implementation in the end of the day. National governments have to realize that local and regional authorities are not the same as other stakeholders as we hold a political mandate being elected by our citizens. Concluding, I would like to ask you, Madam Commissioner, when we can expect additional money under the React EU, this money is needed and are indispensable without any delay in our cities and regions. Thank you very much for your intervention. Okay, thank you very much. I would like to congratulate the floor now to Emil Bog from the EPP. Thank you, President. Thank you, dear Commissioner Ferreira and congratulations for your very pragmatic and concrete presentations. First of all, I'd like to say that I strongly support the message of President Zicostas and also of the President Geblevic about the emergency, about the urgency of the programs, because this is a matter of trust in the European Union, in the capacity of the European Union to react promptly to the present situations. Let's be honest, at the beginning of the pandemic, the reaction of the EU was slowly, but now it's back on track and now it's time for actions and from that perspective, the adoption as quick as possible with all the programs, including the recovery and it's important for us. Now, a second comment, it's about cohesion policy. It was a successful program overall from the last period. I can share with you the experience of Luzhnapoca, for example, my city, for each euro that we invested here in Luzhnapoca, from our local budget, we managed to attract 2.5 euros from the European funds and for example, we invested more than 100 million euros in the public transport and half of them is electrically already in place. But now let's move to the future. Dear commissioner, taking an account what I already shared with you, it's a matter of emergency and an importance of providing the local authorities with the possibility of expressing their views in the drafting of the programs. I think the national rules, which make the spending more complex, should be an element of the past and we count on your support, on your trust. Last but not least, I would like to mention about the trial of which is now in place between all the actors in Brussels in order to approve the CPR. I have a concrete proposal concerning the article 58.b to increase from 10% to 20% the level of amount for green spaces. You know it's a technicality, but it's important for us. And last but not least, pay attention to the flexibility and integration of funds and one in one out rule. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, dear commissioner Farira. Thank you very much, prime minister. The floor now to Brigitte Orne from the PES. The new instruments are not only important for the implementation of the following pandemic. It has been a package on the way that is of great importance from the grand scale. They have called it historically. Some states are better at the crisis than others are not allowed to make the macroeconomic balance within the European Union even bigger. Since the individual companies of the member states are connected to each other, they can easily transfer disruptions to other countries. Each of us knows how the current situation looks like. Each of us knows how necessary further help is. Each of us knows that important co-financing breaks away in the region and the liquidity is getting less and less. But we also know that we have challenges of the future that are not caused by the pandemic. The preparation of the additional means is necessary, addresses important goals and helps us in the region. And the means have to flow quickly. I appeal to all of you that the ratification in your member states will be completed as soon as possible. Blockade policy individuals have already lost valuable time. Heartbreak of the European economy are usually the small and medium companies. They are connected to the trusted speaking partners. They will need flexible programs for them. Yes, it has to be answered and reacted immediately on the crisis. But the long-term coercive political goals are not allowed to be pushed aside. The goal must be the support of economic recovery in the course of the corona pandemic through the promotion of the economic, social and territorial systems. As well as the digital and green changes, including the biological diversity and the implementation of climate goals. In this respect, it is good that this approach is clearly formulated in the construction program. The new instruments take a valuable bridge function for the transition between the departure of the old and the beginning of the new promotion period and combine them with each other. In my house, I am currently checking how we can connect the means from React.eu into regional politics. We use different instruments and resources in my region for a regionalised approach. Our goal is a comprehensive regional policy under close connection of the civil society, as well as the economy, science and environmental actors. The whole thing is flanked by the mainstream programs and we invest in the future and make the European Union visible at the same time. That corresponds to what you also demanded in your contribution. Very good, Mr. Commissioner. I thank you that your services to the regional programs are a fast track procedure for the approval. That helps us a lot. I fear that the temporary limitation of the means for the construction instruments will still not only increase the liquidity increase. Good projects need their time. Therefore, their planning, approval, development and calculation should not follow in a fast track procedure. Therefore, Mr. Commissioner, I appeal to you to change the temporary roof regulation so that the actual running times of the projects from the construction package can run longer than before. Last but not least, we know that in every crisis there is also a chance. Let us achieve this together for the benefit of the European region. I thank you. Thank you very, very much. Thank you very, very much for your intervention. The floor now to Mr. Mann from Europe. Mr. Mann from Europe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you also Mrs. Ferreira for coming here in our meeting. I'll continue in Dutch. As Mrs. Ferreira just mentioned in the discussion of the update, there is a huge amount of work done by the European Commission and by the various member states. There is a huge amount of work done to implement new regulations on the tides that we will carry out in the coming years and that we need to, as Mrs. Ferreira said, to build back better to make Europe better out of this situation. This is, of course, a golden chance that we should take together. It is also very important to do it together, to do it together. I have written an advice for the Committee of the Regions about how we can use the cohesion funds among others in the current situation of the corona crisis. Let's show that advice that the role of the Regions and the cities here in essential is. It is also essential that we work together. We have to learn with each other and work together. We have to make sure that we avoid as many hobbies and bureaucratic rules with each other to constructively work towards a recovery after the crisis. It is also important that we make use of proven, existing programs and that new programs are not fabricated that bring new children together and new bureaucracies. There are enough program managers and cohesion funds that work very well and that can be adjusted well to ensure that we get better out of this crisis. And we also see that the new rules can be applied too often, too much with the member states. This is a sort of re-centralization of money for example with Reactive Use because it is unintentional. It ensures that the partnership principle is engraved. I was very happy to hear how much value Ms. Ferreira has on the partnership principle but we see that it is often under pressure. And of course it is very important to work with each other to ensure that it stays well but I would like to ask Ms. Ferreira how far they can and how far they want to work with the member states that do not handle the partnership principle. We see that the member states do not always do this. An example is now with the development of the ESF program in my own country the Netherlands in which the rich government does not want the role of the transition regions to honor. There are a number of transition regions in the Netherlands and there is a distribution of the budget and at the distribution of the ESF fund my own member states that distribution and do not honor. I would like to ask Ms. Ferreira whether she knows and how far she could and want to work because I am very happy with Ms. Ferreira. Make sure the voice of the region is heard. Thank you. Thank you very much dear colleague. The floor now to Marco Marcilio from DCR. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. The floor now to Nanette Maupertius from the AID group. Thank you Mr. President Thank you Madam the Commissioner for your intervention In the name of the European Alliance group I would like to first congratulate you Madam the Commissioner for having concluded with success the agreements on the package of the 2021-2027 coalition so that the regions can quickly start their program. Nevertheless the current situation is living preoccupations in the cities and in the regions in the territories that were already vulnerable before the Covid crisis I think in rural areas in the ultra-peripheral regions even if we salute the importance of the effort we have made in the plan of reliance we are worried because of the absence of a clear methodology especially when it comes to the question of the articulation between the policy of cohesion and the tools of reliance the respect of the partnership principle in particular the delay and uncertainty concerning the calendar the availability of resources the too centralized management poses huge challenges to our regions which should quickly replace programs of support to reliance on one side and more structural programs of regional development on the other hand in a global framework which is still fluid and uncertain to bring information this morning so we must work together to promote the value of cohesion as our president said but to transfer the resources to centralized instruments and managed by the member states that bear the risk of passing next to the territorial perspective and structural needs and conjugal regions and citizens we must therefore cooperate at all institutional levels so that the policy of cohesion contributes to growth let the challenges of work they are complex clarify the rules and take advantage of them to reduce administrative charges on the same occasion I thank you, Madam Thank you very much The floor now to the president of the Greenies Thank you president dear commissioner, dear colleagues being all deeply involved in health crisis management we should not forget that climate change environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity are still major existential threats to our planet European Green Deal was developed to address the issue and transform the union into a modern resource efficient and competitive economy that will become carbon neutral till 2050 this is an essential aim absolutely necessary to follow also by new cohesion policy programs and new regulatory tools and there is another concern I'd like to underline it was mentioned before but we should ensure that the funds actually address needs on the ground it can only be attained by including local regional authorities, civil society social and economic partners and by respecting partnership principles meaning that member states should guarantee clear participation procedures such as making documents accessible at an early stage ensuring sufficient time for consultation and feedback ensuring transparent responses to suggestions and comments and informing about the follow up of the proposed suggestions greener sustainable and carbon neutral future based on inclusive partnership and participation must be reached also by strongly engaging new cohesion policy programs and recovery tools that will assist this future together thank you on behalf of Greens from Socha Valley in Julian Alps, Slovenia thank you very much the floor now to our first Vice President Vasco Cordeiro Thank you very much Mr. President Mr. Commissioner just four notes that seem important to me the first of them a thank you obviously for all the work developed by Commissioner Elisa Ferreira we now have the tools to start this recovery but it is necessary not to forget that the way we implement how we apply these funds is as important as the amount we have available is as important as it is that's why this relationship between recovery mechanism and resilience and the own is absolutely essential in my opinion to be able to free all the potential of each of these policies if not, as our President Tsitsikostas mentioned one of the most powerful instruments that the Union has already developed can fail the second idea the recent realization of investment policies can lead the European Union to wrong decisions at the level of cities and regions in cities and regions we are those who are closer to concretizing the support in this challenging period in case of housing, tourism the support to local entrepreneurs are some examples of the capacity of intervention and the areas of intervention of local and regional entities the third idea there is a unique opportunity for the European Union through these policies contribute to achieve the goals of the Green Deal with programs of coalition policy and public services making these policies more green in the new programming period is a priority of the Union also here the local and regional authorities are fundamental fourth idea we are convinced in the Union that we can help to build a more fair and stronger Europe we also had the instruments but it is also fundamental that Europe itself is capable of encouraging and mobilizing the growth to support its citizens the issue of the mountain available is not the only relevant issue the way of mobilizing resources and mobilizing in the future finally a greeting as to the attention given to the issue of the ultra-peripheral regions as the Syrian, Portuguese and European I cannot leave that to anyone thank you very much Vasco for your intervention and I would like at this point commissioner before I give you the floor for your reaction to bring something to your attention the EU treaties ask the European Committee of the regions to speak up for cross-border cooperation in Europe some member states ask the European Commission to withdraw its draft regulation on the European cross-border mechanism while the European Parliament is supporting the draft the regulation would make it much easier for us for regions, local authorities to work together across borders so I will address a letter to the member states making our voice and arguments heard I will share this letter with you and I would ask you to use your communication channels as well and your help with the national governments to actively support the proposal of the European Commission because as you understand for us the regions of the cities this issue of cross-border collaborations of great importance thank you very much and I now give you the floor for your reaction commissioner commissioner Ferrer you have the floor the floor to Mr. Southberger our colleague Mr. Southberger Mr. President Mr. Commissioner I would like to come back to a very important point that is not only possible to see but that the meaningful investments in the programs of the regions and the municipalities to the recovery of Europe after the pandemic the cohesion policy is the most important investment policy of the EU of the regions and cities because of corona the great danger is that the existing inequalities under the regions and the expansion countries in the EU and the expansion countries will be added and of course that is also especially the expansion countries of the west Balkans I just wanted to say the use of so much money of course also requires a real control against the lack but it requires simple rules for the inanspruch name, that is not a contradiction, what do we do if there are no and not enough appropriate programs that are worked out because that is missing and fourth, what makes the commission to really motivate the micro states to include their regions and cities because until late April 2021 is there will be a lot of problems and that is not enough Thank you very much Rafał Trzaskowski I want to talk about three things really first of all participation of regional authorities and consultations secondly transparent and non-political criteria and thirdly direct use of funds it is incredibly important that regional authorities are consulted when we talk about the future of structural policy cohesion policy but also when it comes to new instruments secondly we need to make sure that all the processes done in a transparent manner and that criteria are non-political and here the commission has to be incredibly tough and all the European institutions on the member states because they use political criteria I don't know whether you know but Warsaw was taken out of the operational programs the only part of Poland and brought back to this ago so we need to be tough on that and thirdly especially when it comes to new instruments I pledge to you and I submit to you a possibility for use of limited amount of funds directly with the regional authorities with the cities because that would allow us to actually create a situation in which we will all see the results of the policies that we are implementing and this is the last sentence we cannot really meet our priorities when it comes to green deal without involving the cities thank you thank you very much Rafał Guilhermo, Fernandez, Vara now it is the floor good afternoon esteemada comisaria querida Elisa you can see that the regional policy in the north of Portugal towards the region the regional governments we are doing this and we will have to do this in the next three years the NMAS 3 of the previous operational program 1420 the new operational program 2127 the part of FEADER that will be included in the second pillar of the community agrarian policy the real funds, the next generation funds what I want to say that it will be more necessary than ever in the first place the flexibility and in the second place the complementarity it is essential that we divide the future as a global project as a whole as a service of an idea regional development as an instrument of equal opportunities in that context that flexibility, that collaboration that cooperation towards the side and down with the national governments with the local governments with the with the government in that case as it is my region of relations with the beloved Portugal I want to thank dear comissariat the enormous effort because this is the time of Europe and of the Europeans right now Europe when they are forced thank you very much thank you very much Elizabeth Nebreda Villa please thank you Mr. President Bondia, comissariat Freira thank you for your presentation and your words we are at the crossroads to live up to the challenge and not to fail future generations we must work differently bringing together new cohesion policy programs and recovery tools to promote positive synergies is surely a good starting point but it will not be enough for these new instruments to reach to their full potential better governments is needed one open to direct participation of regions as it has been repeatedly requested in this regard on behalf of the regions members of the initiative regions for EU recovery I would like to thank you commissioner for your answer to the joint letter that we addressed European leaders calling for greater involvement of the regions in EU decision making in the post-COVID recovery at national level consultation processes within member states must recognize the areas of competence conferred to regions and allow them to implement the relevant recovery funds in order to maximize their impact at EU level we call on the commission to keep a close surveillance on how member states allocate the resources if all vices and past mistakes are to be averted together we must ensure that these instruments reach our SMEs, our civil society thank you very much president thank you very much let me inform you that in as of right now the interpreters are reminding us that they have to stop transmitting, they have to take a break according to the procedures which means that from now on only English is the available language the floor now to beyond cross please dear colleagues we will have to move very quickly so everyone has one minute in 12 minutes from now I give the floor to the commissioner Mr. Ross go ahead ok Jorge has gone Navarro please do you hear me yes we do thank you very much dear president dear colleagues I want my intervention to be very clear I want the goal of the intervention to be very clear the participation of the cities in the European funds and in the policies of correction it has to be different from what it is currently if we want to be more fair if we want to be more efficient the role of the cities has to change I want to join my voice to that of many other alcaldes some of whom we have heard today saying that there are to have more transparent criteria which is necessary to share the funds as we have seen in some occasions we have a very important challenge and although my intervention is critical I want to focus on the things that today in Europe are doing well I want to focus on programs like the one of 100 cities sustainable climatically before 2030 an example without any doubt an example that will serve for many other cities and in which I am convinced that we will be able to find ourselves that is the way thank you very much Agnes Rampal please the floor to Mirjá Rejka Pera Thank you Mr. President and Mr. Commissioner I come from the area where there is a poor population of long distances and four thousand different years the cohesion policy is very important to meet the differences between different communities to create opportunities for companies to improve the economy as Commissioner said there is a problem with your connection so the floor goes to Gunther Platter please the floor to Rene de Her I would like to thank Commissioner for her contribution to combine forces between cohesion and recovery funds we can only succeed in the recovery of our economy if there is a good cooperation between the national, regional and local governments for that reason I would firmly underline the importance of the principle of partnership and we as committee are looking at the commission to uphold and assert that principle too often regions and cities are only asked for an opinion instead of being co-architect for recovery plans and that's why I want to appeal to you to compel that regions and cities are full partners by the making and implementation of recovery plans. Thank you very much Thank you the floor to Paula Fernandez-Viana please European countries that are going to finance the economic recovery the local and regional authorities we are deeply in the problems and challenges of our territories and we are the closest to the agents that generate development and innovation I totally agree with your intervention and from Cantabria we have that the state authorities use the funds of the recovery plan to recover competencies that are not autonomous my question is what will the European Commission do to promote regional and local participation in the preparation of the programs 21-27 of the recovery plan and of resilience from Cantabria we claim greater governance which allows us to participate in the management of the distribution of European resources and we denounce the criteria of the government of Spain for the distribution of the 10.000 million of the recovery fund that is being imposed unilaterally, thank you very much President Thank you very much Marius Franskovski please Thank you very much Ladies and gentlemen I would like to draw your attention to the challenges related to the planning of the community policy programs in relation to the metropolitan regions that come to the category of better developed regions In the case of the Polish region NUS-2 of the Warsaw table the distribution, in this respect reaches today a level of over 100% The planned support in the new regional program will exceed only 17% of the resources available at the present time There is such a situation with a gap between the policies of the community in which the important distribution of the particular regions of the European Union is based I am returning to the European Commission to take a higher approach during the negotiations of the partnership for Poland and properly revamp the potential of the distribution of the Warsaw table with the need of the entrepreneurs who study the local and scientific resources at the same time I would like to note that the support in the framework of the tools of the EU after the pandemic crisis cannot be perceived as a tool that supports the implementation of the policy of cooperation but is complementary to it Thank you Thank you The floor to Rastislav Trinka Please Mr. President Mr. Commissioner and colleagues When discussing the plan authorities who are closer to the citizens must have their say there is no other way Only we know what really bothers us and what must be done It's enough to give us the final opportunity to help ourselves This is the time Unfortunately we self-governments too often fulfill the decisions of others without the possibility of influencing and improving them Despite a system that we do not consider an effective option for supporting cities and regions we in Slovakia have so far agreed with the national government on no more than half of the purpose areas in the recovery plan and this is only step 0 of the recovery and long wash ahead For the boat to make its its destination everyone must paddle True partnership is crucial Otherwise the boat is going in circles If you want to go fast go alone If you want to go far go together Thank you very much Guillaume Grosz, please Thank you for giving me the floor Commissioner and colleagues considering the articulation of the national recovery plan and the foundation of cohesion recent study carried out by the regional committee clearly points out that the states associate the territorial collectivity very far In the first round and often pilot the program of cohesion In fact, the risk of not moving efficiently it has already been said that Reactive You and the financing of 2021-27 are real So what is the mechanism and will you go into work to make sure that in 2 years we do not see the failure of this roll-in initiative What are your expectations for the state members Thank you Sari Raulcio is our last member who will intervene now Thank you so much Mr President and thank you It's a very very important issue and I only want to stress that also in the macro region of Baltic Sea region we have been discussing about the same issue and it's very very important that we do this co-creation between all countries or regions or cities and also all different stakeholders in order to get the best goals and reach the best goals So thank you, this is very very important and all the best, thank you Thank you very much Commissioner Ferreira, you have the floor for your final remarks and reaction, thank you I understand there is a technical issue with the connection of Commissioner Ferreira I would like to ask the administration if it's possible for Commissioner Ferreira to react via the phone if it's not possible for her to connect I would ask the administration to respond to me, are we going to have Commissioner Ferreira or not Okay I'm informed that it's not possible to connect with Commissioner Ferreira She has a technical issue so she informed us that she will answer to our members in writing and this way she will be able to reply to all the questions and the remarks that were made by our members today in this very interesting debate This is what I propose and this is what we will convey to the cabinet of Commissioner Ferreira and hopefully we will get an answer in writing to all of the questions and the comments that you have made so dear colleagues we will now intervene and we will meet again at now I can speak can you hear me can you hear me okay terrible I've got four computers around me, I'm sorry can I still answer you or is it too late you can go ahead okay good so I will be speaking in English I apologize to all the different language speakers but I think we cannot we don't have the interpretation as far as I could understand sorry about these connections but I was wanting pressing to speak and I apparently there was no authorization for me to speak so we will have to improve this functioning in a further on so let me just try to address groups of questions first thanks to everybody that made positive comments on the work that we have been doing I think it's a big team it's your group it's the parliament, it's the council and it's the staff of the digital reform and all the other the staff that all over works in a big team in fact I would touch upon several questions first I think there were lots and lots of questions about the partnership principle this is really I tried to address it in my initial speech and I think it's a very crucial thing so we have to strike the right balance between sharing participation and the need to have a quick answer to our companies to our citizens in terms of starting to deliver but we are very attentive that in fact in particular when it comes to the normal programs and to the programs that are associated and are within the recovery and resilience plans that in fact we have sufficiently sound participation of the different levels we were talking also on lots of questions about the speed okay we are as you know we finish most of the provision legislation until December so we just have to finish we hope to finish next week with parliament and council just the final parts of the common provisions regulation and of the regional fund but the bulk of the texts are finished this allows member states and regions to start preparing because all the eligibility are already established and the crucial parts of the texts are finished so of course formally we didn't finish completely it was not published it will go through the jurist linguists but the most relevant legal texts they are there but nevertheless let's be clear about the timings everything that depends on the next generation so everything that depends on the borrowing the commission going to the markets and borrowing 750 million billion euros and this will be the source financial source for react to you for just part of the just transition fund and for the RRF has to go through a series of procedures and the most important one is that all member states have got to give the authorization to the European commission to go to the market so this is a crucial thing and it's indispensable because we cannot borrow in the market without an unanimous authorization by member states and the quicker this procedure is finished the quickest it is to go to the market to borrow then we have got to finish the plans of the member states and the proposals of the member states so this is in the hands of the member states as well so several member states have already presented their initial reform plans to the commission and the dialogue is going on but certain member states didn't yet present anything so this work has got to be finished so we are talking about spring time but as early as possible to close these procedures but in the meantime I want to underline that there is no a vacuum so from the previous multi-annual framework of support the effective execution level is I mean for the most advanced member states around 50% of the overall amount of money available so there are margins of course we allowed through CRE reprogramming what was not spent yet and this goes on and so member states and regions and law and municipalities they have this possibility to use this with maximum maximum flexibility and maximum simplification as I told you 20 billion have already been spent but the full flexibility allows for reprogramming across programs across regions you can reprogram from social fund to regional fund or vice versa and from cohesion fund to the other ones and talking about speed this facility the CRE and CREPLAS was implemented and it is in operation since April we started in February, March since April this is done so we did the speediest procedure because in two weeks we had CRE going through the parliament growing through all the procedures and in another two weeks CREPLAS so by the end of April it was done and speed goes on and that's what we did also with legislation another L this instrument is still there the execution of the usual funds still needs to be speeded up in a lot of member states and a lot of regions and on top of this for the eligibility for the use of ReactU that is a prolongation with some changes but the prolongation until 2023 of the CRE kind of instrument you have the eligibility to be reimbursed it's for projects and programs that started since the first of February so even if you need if you want I mean we are waiting here in commission for the plans for React because we have got to know how you want to use the money because also we have got to be accountable but I mean we are speeding up the negotiations and as soon as the money is available because this money depends on the next generation instrument so this borrowing as soon as the money there is a possibility to reimburse backwards so this I mean I don't think there is really scarcity of money but I think we need to have a seamless kind of transition from the emergency instruments into the most long-term instruments there were lots of questions also about the social aspects but before that about environment and about consideration of recovery but recovering along different basis and of course the recovery and resilience plan requires that user funds will be 37% allocated to green and in particular climate investments and 20% for digital investments which are a way to combine to allocate to define a new strategy for the future also in the European regional fund you have 30% as a target for use of funds but then you have this digital and climate requirements with different levels of thresholds according to the regions but this concern is there then there is role of cities and I find this a very important issue because the role of cities is absolutely crucial for sure but we have got to bear in mind that in the regional fund the proposal of commission was that cities and urban areas would be allocated with extra margins of maneuver at least 6% of the ERDF and it ended up with 8% but we have got also to bear in mind this balanced approach that in fact there is this capacity this strong capacity that the big cities have to combine it also with the strategy for the middle sized cities and towns and also for the fact that the biggest centers most developed centers have got to be supported in those kind of investments that really front load that create something new and in programs and projects that spread development around because what we are observing and it's not only the commission it's also the World Bank and studies that have been done is that imbalances are increasing and they will have increased after this crisis more than before so cohesion policy has got to have this specific concern of rebalancing the growth rebalancing development and so the role of cities has got to be seen within this context that in fact probably they also have to reflect on their internal income and how you redistribute internally the income but of course there is this specific role that we expect them to play towards the surrounding areas but also towards the most complex or sophisticated or innovative ways to use the funds apart from this I'd also like to underline and Vashko Cordero and Madame Marpercius Machique that spoke in French I mean this convergence aspect is particularly sensitive in those regions that suffered the most and for instance React is supposed to address in a proportionate way the regions that suffered the most and of course the outermost regions suffered a lot most of them and not only them but those regions that depend on tourism on industry those that needed physical contact for their development they suffer much more than others the cultural activities so this is now one of the targets that we have that we that it's the support that we want to give to these regions through React is specific specifically targeting but also the recovery instrument has got to bring these regions and in the negotiations of the funds there was a particular care with the outermost regions in French but the outermost regions exactly because they don't have a lot of alternatives they depend a lot on flights they depend a lot of tourism they depend a lot on on agricultural policies and exports and so they were very very affected but they are the kind of extra dramatic situation but this kind of situation has got to be also reflected in the way we organize not only the emergency support but also the the relaunch of the of the future last comment on simplification we made a lot of simplification in the when we now I mean implemented Cree and Creeplex and React also in the the regional fund legislation I call your attention for the simplification that doesn't mean that you and us are less accountable towards citizens and towards the monitoring and auditing boards so we have got really to fine tune the way we address this accounting and at the same time simplifying procedures there are more than 80 new procedures that are exactly trying to touch upon this issue simplification so I think I addressed this most of the of the issues I would only like to underline that also in Interreg we have got to be more focused and several speakers addressed the need to cooperate and of course we have got to more and more content to what we do with Interreg React now can cover also Inter cooperation between border regions and I call your attention to the need to give substance to what we do in particular in those regions like Central Europe and like the Baltic area and I thank the intervention the Baltic representatives where we have a lot a lot of programs and so sometimes things really I mean can lose I mean focus my last last comment for social aspects in fact social aspects are absolutely crucial and they are at the center of this recovery when we say no one can be left behind there was a suggestion to create a new agency this is something that needs more reflection but the social aspect is at the core of our recovery strategy so we just have to make sure that by combining adequately the social fund, the regional fund the RRF that we really I mean create, value edit and give our citizens the capacity to participate fully in the development of Europe thank you very much I'm sorry about this I mean the technical problems are I cannot do a lot about it but I tried not to give the questions without answer because the written answers tend to be very rigid, very schematic and I was I was fearing that I would not be able to address all the questions that have been put and they were so relevant that I wanted really to make an effort to do it and we'll keep in touch hopefully with less digital problems in future yes and let's hope that we will be able to finally meet in person because it's really tiring for all of us the fact that we have to connect discuss online all the time you know we are at least 500 people connected at this time members of the European Committee of the Regions who have followed our debate and it's really a pity we cannot meet in person and discuss in person I really want to thank you you reiterated the fact that you are the best friend of the Committee of the Regions in the Commission today and I have to thank you because you gave answers to all of our members questions and concerns and comments and I think that we now have a clear view of how we will move forward both in addressing the coronavirus health crisis but also and most importantly the recovery so it is true that using the European funds I do it here in my region in Central Macedonia if it was not for the funds used from the European Union and the structural funds we would not have been able to help our hospitals to help our industry and our businesses revive and stay strong during this pandemic so I really believe that we have great things to do ahead of us the news you gave us were very important on the flexibility of the programs and this is how we want to move forward because the crisis is still unfolding matter of fact we are having a third wave coming into Greece as we speak so I'm really hoping that we will have a lot of things to do together thanks to the very good collaboration and the close collaboration that we have the Committee of the Regions in yourself so thank you very much again Elisa, Commissioner Ferreira for your time and your very important involvement Thank you Thank you Thank you very much Bye Thank you So dear colleagues after this very interesting debate with Commissioner Ferreira