Leaders and local and regional representatives from across Europe gathered in Mons (Belgium) to set the agenda for the future of Europe. Mayors, regional governors and local councillors reaffirmed their intention to translate European policies into tangible actions on the ground and their determination to address the Union's challenges at local level.
The "Mons Declaration" outlines the priorities of regions and cities for a stronger, fairer and more resilient future for Europe.
These are the key points of the Declaration of Mgr:
- Promoting public investment: More budgetary resources are needed to address current and future challenges. Investments should be guided by the ‘do no harm to cohesion’ principle and recognise that cohesion policy must continue to be the EU’s most important and visible instrument for reducing disparities, strengthening the Union’s competitiveness and catalysing long-term innovative transformation;
- Local solutions for climate goals: local and regional authorities should have direct access to EU funding to develop innovative solutions that contribute to achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal, achieving climate neutrality and promoting sustainable development and economic prosperity;
- Responding to regional needs: all EU policies should promote equal opportunities, combat poverty, foster employment and ensure gender equality in all regions, including rural, urban and outermost regions, recognising their different characteristics;
- EU enlargement and reforms: Regional and local leaders should be involved in the preparation of EU reforms and in the enlargement process. The preparation of enlargement with all candidate countries should be based on the partnership principle and promote multilevel governance and decentralisation;
- Active subsidiarity: The European Committee of the Regions should play a stronger role in the institutional structure and legislative process of the EU. In future reforms of the Union, the local and regional level of European democracy should be strengthened through reforms to ensure active subsidiarity.
Before the adoption of the Mons Declaration, in a session of the Summit dedicated to the European elections, the leaders of the political groups of the European Parliament and several of their leaders addressed local and regional political representatives. Promoting democratic engagement and contributing to an open public debate on the challenges and opportunities of the EU are the main objectives of the CoR's action to raise awareness among European citizens of the importance of voting in the June elections.
The declaration adopted at the summit represents the position of regions and cities vis-à-vis the leaders of the EU institutions and heads of state and government, who will meet in Brussels on 21 and 22 March, just a few weeks before the European elections.
English (UK)