Resolution on the 2022 Work Programme of the European Commission and of the European Committee of the Regions political priorities for 2022

(2022/C 97/01)

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to:

—	the European Commission Work Programme for 2022;

—	the Protocol of Cooperation with the European Commission of February 2012;

—	the CoR Resolution on its priorities for 2020-2025 (1);

—	the CoR Resolution on its proposals in view of the European Commission Work Programme for 2022 (2); and

—	the CoR Resolution on the 2021 EU Annual Regional and Local Barometer (3);

1.

calls on the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to take into account the views and suggestions contained in this resolution in the Joint Declaration on the EU’s legislative priorities 2022, and stands ready to contribute to its implementation;

2.

recalls the Commission’s commitment to following up on proposals emerging from the Conference on the Future of Europe. Considers the interactive multilingual digital platform and the citizens’ panels as a possible instrument for an EU-wide mechanism for permanent dialogue with citizens and stands ready to take a key part in this process;

3.

welcomes the 2022 the European Year of Youth and is committed to cooperating closely with the other EU institutions and all relevant stakeholders to promote youth participation at all levels;

Bringing Europe closer to its people

4.

reiterates its call on the Commission to include the regional and local dimension in the scope of the legislative and non-legislative measures outlined in the European Democracy Action Plan, and stresses the importance of safeguarding the integrity of local and regional elections and empowering local communities in the fight against discrimination and disinformation;

5.

demands that future legislative initiative to protect media freedom take into consideration the situation of local and regional media;

6.

supports the Commission's focus on guaranteeing the effective application of the rule of law, including the principle of the primacy of EU law as a prerequisite for equal rights and legal certainty in the exercise of common policies;

7.

points out the need to continue efforts towards a Union of Equality, including by proposing new measures to prevent and combat violence against women, and expects therefore to be involved in the establishment of a new interinstitutional EU ethics body;

8.

is fully committed to implementing the concept of ‘active subsidiarity’ and reiterates its call for the systematic use of the Subsidiarity Assessment Grid in Commission proposals;

9.

Supports the intention to reduce administrative burden for citizens and businesses with the ‘one in, one out’ approach. Expects, nonetheless, this exercise to be compliant with the EU’s economic, social and environmental standards and to rely on an evidence-based approach and an assessment of the cost of inaction;

10.

reiterates its call for the interinstitutional agreement, guidelines and toolbox on better regulation to be reviewed, incorporating the multilevel dimension of the European regulatory process, as suggested by the Task Force on Subsidiarity;

11.

welcomes, in that context, the Commission’s commitment to strengthening territorial impact assessments and rural proofing, so that the needs and specificities of different EU territories are better taken into account. Points out the need to also take border regions into account. The CoR therefore calls on the Commission to guarantee that inception impact assessments and impact assessments include an evaluation of the potential territorially differentiated impacts of each legislative initiative; supports, moreover, its plans to organise a large-scale conference on better regulation in 2022, taking particular account of the local and regional dimension as it did in the Fit for Future platform;

12.

underlines the growing importance of foresight as a political tool to develop evidence-based long-term perspectives, in many policy fields where local and regional authorities bear key responsibilities, such as in the field of economic support, demography, climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, education, health, skills or infrastructure. Reiterates, therefore, its commitment to supporting the Commission in mapping local and regional foresight capacity to take local and regional experience into account, notably the annual Strategic Foresight Report;

Building resilient communities

13.

demands the systematic organisation of multilevel platforms and dialogues to deliver structured and inclusive participation of local and regional authorities in planning and implementing Green Deal initiatives;

14.

underlines the immense territorial challenges of the green transition including in the transport sector and acknowledges the specific situation of automotive regions and calls for a multilevel dialogue for the just transition of the automotive sector;

15.

will continue to accompany the implementation of a long-term vision for rural areas and the transition towards a greener, smarter and sustainable agriculture. The establishment of a Rural Agenda should provide the basis for a governance mechanism for rural areas, while protecting local identities and specialities, and clear quantitative indicators for a rural dimension in the European semester;

16.

supports the prioritisation of the Zero Pollution Ambition for protecting people and ecosystems and expects local and regional authorities to be taken into account in the upcoming Zero Pollution Package, notably by setting up the relevant Stakeholder Platform and an EU regions scoreboard;

17.

calls for upcoming proposals on plastics and circular economy to take into account input already provided in relevant CoR opinions, including the focus on competences of local and regional authorities for waste collection and management;

18.

calls on the Commission to further promote the use of space technology and availability of data at local level in order to fight climate change, foster energy transition, protect the environment and implement the Green Deal;

19.

looks forward to the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive with a view to a full implementation of the Renovation Wave and calls on the Commission to build upon the ongoing enhanced cooperation with the CoR;

20.

reiterates that for the EU Green Deal to be a success, a thorough revision of the Governance of the Energy Union regulation is needed, linking it to the UN 2030 Agenda and the SDGs framework, and with the structural implementation of multilevel governance through systematic Multilevel Green Deal Dialogues;

21.

welcomes the Toolbox for managing fluctuations on energy prices and calls for starting with reinforced action to fight energy poverty and vulnerability to climate change;

22.

welcomes the recognition of the intrinsic link between the climate and biodiversity crises and insists that the European Commission keep promoting multilevel governance in the EU and worldwide building upon the Edinburgh declaration, in particular at the upcoming UN CBD COP15 and UNFCCC COP27; calls for an Ocean Law that would involve local and regional authorities in marine environment protection;

23.

calls for reinforcing the implementation of the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, building upon the Mission on adaptation and on the EU Policy Support Facility for Adaptation;

24.

welcomes the Commission’s ambition of reaching the targets set out in the 2030 Digital Compass, and calls for digital cohesion to be integrated as a complementary dimension to economic, social and territorial cohesion within EU policies;

25.

deplores the lack of relevant indicators at local and regional level to monitor the 2030 Digital Decade targets; seeks, therefore, to develop such indicators;

26.

welcomes the Commission's commitment to adopting a European Chips Act to reflect on the EU's high dependency on third countries’ supplies of state-of-the-art technologies;

27.

welcomes the announced legal initiative for a Single Market Emergency Instrument. Calls upon the European Commission to ensure that the frontline role of LRAs is reflected in its proposal, especially when it comes to dealing with disruptions of the Single Market in territories that rely on strong cross-border supply chains and exchanges;

28.

welcomes the Commission’s intention to review the EU’s competition policy. Underlines that a possible revision of the market definition must carefully consider to what extent this will affect the economic balance between different EU regions, as well as SMEs and consumers;

29.

regrets that the Commission Work Programme does not foresee actions addressing the fundamental changes that the Green Deal, digitalisation and decarbonisation will bring to European industry. Recommends, therefore, that the Commission link its future industrial policy more closely to future-proofing and take on board lessons from competitive regional ecosystems, the importance of key enabling technologies and the need to strike a balance between competitiveness and open strategic autonomy;

30.

stresses the importance of protecting citizens’ fundamental rights in future EU artificial intelligence (AI) regulations and strengthening ethical requirements for the deployment of high-risk AI; welcomes to this effect the European Commission public consultation on the adaptation of civil liability rules to the specific challenges of the digital age and artificial intelligence (4) [1] and expects that this will result in an updated framework aimed at ensuring consumer redress for damage caused by AI applications;

31.

is committed to working towards the creation of the fully-fledged European Health Union that respects the principle of subsidiarity and calls for a clearer role for the European Parliament and for regions in the future EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, as well as in the European Health Data Space; explicitly requests that local and regional authorities be involved in health crisis emergency planning and delivery, as part of the HERA proposal, as well as under the draft regulation on serious cross-border threats to health;

32.

calls on the Commission to take into account the role of local and regional authorities in cancer prevention; stands ready to advise on a forthcoming screening recommendation and to be part of the implementation process;

33.

reiterates the recommendations contained in its opinion on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. A common migration policy based on solidarity and ensuring efficient management of migration flows as required by the Treaties can only be achieved with the involvement of all levels of governance, including the local and regional levels;

34.

reiterates the need for a functioning Schengen area without internal borders; supports the efforts of Member States and the Commission in protecting the EU external borders while upholding the rule of law and respecting human rights;

35.

calls on the EU institutions to financially support those Member States that successfully protect the EU's external borders;

36.

stresses the need for stronger coordination, cooperation and key information exchange between local and regional authorities, Member States and law enforcement authorities in order to address cross-border crimes effectively, and in particular terrorism and organised crime;

37.

expects the Commission to follow-up on the CoR’s request to give the relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the EU more territorial ‘depth’. The CoR will contribute to facilitating and developing territorial cooperation with the devolved nations and UK local and regional authorities, including beyond the institutional framework of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement;

38.

calls for the establishment of sustained and structured support by the Commission for peer-to-peer cooperation between local authorities in the Western Balkans and their counterparts in the EU, in particular through the Joint Consultative Committees with Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia and the CoR’s Working Group for the Western Balkans. Welcomes the re-launch of the TAIEX Strategic Support to Local Authorities in the Western Balkans;

39.

welcomes the Commission’s continuous commitment to the Eastern Partnership (EaP), in particular by taking up the CoR's proposal to launch the EaP Academy for Public Administration;

40.

reiterates that within the renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood, all of the EU institutions should consider local and regional authorities as key partners for sustainable development and thereby create new dynamics for decentralisation reforms;

41.

calls on the Commission to recognise the role that local and regional authorities can play in contributing to peace and prosperity in third countries, with initiatives such as the Nicosia Initiative — a concrete example of peer-to-peer cooperation;

42.

calls for a clear plan for a long-term commitment and financial reinforcement of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and its instruments in terms of both disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as collective emergency response capacity. Also urges the Commission to include regional and local experience on disaster management in the recently established Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network;

Cohesion, our fundamental value

43.

underlines the crucial role of cohesion policy and demands therefore that cities and regions be given the opportunity to make the most of Next Generation EU, in order to consolidate long-term and sustainable investments they are planning under cohesion policy;

44.

calls on the Commission to report on the involvement of LRAs in the implementation phase of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) in its ‘Review Report’ on the implementation of the Recover and Resilience Facility (RRF), due by July 2022 (Article 16 of the RRF Regulation). Asks for full respect of the partnership principle and its implementation in the Just Transition Fund (JTF) and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and for quick approval of all NRRPs;

45.

welcomes the Commission’s relaunch of the economic governance review exercise, and believes that the time has come to rethink the EU's fiscal framework so as to avoid again making public investment and public services the adjustment variable;

46.

regrets that the Commission did not consider an extension, for one additional year, of the 100 % co-financing rate and an increase of the ‘de minimis’ threshold within the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative plus, taking into account the budgetary constraints that regional and local authorities are still facing;

47.

welcomes the decision to renew the EU’s strategic partnership with the outermost regions in order to properly consider the impact of the COVID outbreak and adjust the EU support;

48.

is concerned about the slow approval of the Partnership Agreements in the Member States, with regard to a low absorption of the available structural funds and suggests a close collaboration between the regions and the EU institutions to speed up the approval rate, including of the operational programmes;

49.

asks the Commission to create, in addition to the existing website for investor relations, a dedicated web portal for European Bond issues, containing the full aggregated data for all marketed bonds and bills under NextGenerationEU and NextGenerationEU Green Bonds;

50.

underlines the need for an EU policy framework to allow for the efficient establishment and management of cross-border public services; also calls for a more robust legal framework to ensure that cooperation between regional and local actors in EU border regions is supported, guaranteeing minimal standards for cross-border cooperation in the event of crises to maintain a sufficient level of public services;

51.

regrets that several measures under the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, planned for 2022, are not reflected in the Commission’s Work Programme, notably in relation to combined transport, river information services and the efficiency of international rail transport. Welcomes however that ‘multimodal digital mobility services’ are included in the Work Programme and underlines that collective public transport, often directly organised by LRAs as services of general economic interest, must be at the core of this initiative;

52.

reiterates the need for a speedy implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and ‘beyond GDP’ indicators to measure economic, social and environmental progress facilitating the transition to a sustainable wellbeing economy;

53.

eagerly anticipates the recommendation on minimum income, as a step towards eradicating poverty in the EU and as a much-needed follow up of the adequate minimum wages directive;

54.

welcomes the creation of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, as a first step reflecting the CoR demands over the years for a more efficient policy towards homelessness;

55.

urges the Commission to duly take into account the CoR’s recent work on care workers and care services in its forthcoming European Care Strategy;

56.

looks forward to the Commission’s Education Package and underlines the importance of ensuring synergies and coherence with the future initiatives to improve digital skills;

57.

welcomes the proposed Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve programme (ALMA) and stresses the need to ensure that the resources allocated to the programme are in line with the significant number of young people neither in employment, education and training (NEETs) in the EU;

58.

underlines the need to make the European Research Area a reality by supporting regional innovation ecosystems through a strategic and coordinated approach of all levels of government and looks forward to developing the concept of regional ERA Hubs together with the Commission;

59.

supports the implementation of the Horizon Missions as bold steps towards addressing societal challenges but also underlines the need for an effective system of multilevel governance that combines the Missions with local and regional development strategies, the COVID recovery measures and the innovation funding through the structural funds;

60.

regrets that smart specialisation is not mentioned in the Work Programme, as a key concept to overcome the dispersion of different programmes and policies to promote innovation;

61.

regrets that its proposal for a new European Tourism Strategy 2030/2050 is not mentioned in the Commission Work Programme 2022; calls on the Commission to present a new ambitious vision for sustainable tourism, taking account both of the COVID-19 impact and of the green and digital recovery;

62.

instructs its president to forward this Resolution to the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Slovenian, French and Czech presidencies of the Council of the EU and the president of the European Council.

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(1)  COR-2020-01392-00-00-RES-TRA

(2)  COR-2021-02507-00-00-RES-TRA

(3)  COR-2021-03857-00-00-RES-TRA

(4)  https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12979-Civil-liability-adapting-liability-rules-to-the-digital-age-and-artificial-intelligence/public-consultation_en.