European Parliament calls for a strong territorial agenda linked to Interreg
The European Parliament has approved a report about the implementation of territorial development and its application in the Territorial Agenda 2030
The European Parliament has adopted a report highlighting the “huge potential of the Territorial Agenda 2030 and its pilot projects” in “addressing the highly diverse needs of non-urban areas, including rural areas, mountainous areas, islands and coastal areas, remote and sparsely populated areas and many other types of territories where a mix of urban and rural features coexis”.
The report explicitly mentions the need to integrate and coordinate these projects with Interreg. For this, the Parliament would like to be involved in the process through its competent Committee on Regional Development (REGI).
Rapporteur Marcos Ros Sempere (MEP, S&D) highlighted the following five key points:
- Strengthen the Territorial Agenda with appropriate financing and effective methodologies, to ensure its lasting effect in the territorial development
- To embrace a new governance model, to increase the participation of local and regional administrations so that our decisions reflect the real needs of each region.
- To focus on the intraregional cooperation and an inclusive territorial development, beyond big infrastructures and reaching all areas, urban and rural
- To implement new tools, such as the Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) and the Community Led Local Development (CLLD)
- To improve the communication about territorial actions, through pilot projects, to make the investment visible to citizens.
According to MEP Ros Sempere, the purpose is “to improve the territorial organisation and the fair distribution of funds”.
