While the sustainable development agenda took a back seat during the pandemic, one region in Spain pressed ahead with creating an 'ecosystem for sustainable development goals' to reach global goals locally. To take a closer look, EURACTIV spoke with Marta Marín, delegate of the Basque Country's mission to the EU.
Valencia is one of the dozen finalists in the race to become the 2020 European Capital of Innovation. In an interview with EURACTIV, its mayor, Joan Ribó, defended their mission-oriented proposal to overcome the biggest challenges of our period, bringing on board political parties, the civil society and the scientific community.
Because there is still a small number of nations blocking progress in implementing the Paris Agreement, and cities already feel their impact of climate change, they are ready to take the lead in fighting global warming, Milan's mayor and C40 network Vice-Chairman Giuseppe Sala told EURACTIV in an interview.
If the EU wants to regain citizens' trust after the European elections, it has to strengthen links with cities and regions, Stefano Bonaccini told EURACTIV.com.
With €375 billion in the new budget, cohesion remains a cornerstone of EU policies and the proposed cuts will be compensated with increased national co-financing, said Dutch MEP Lambert Van Nistelrooij (EPP). He also said he was in favour of keeping the decentralised approach of ESF and the current categorisation of the regions.
Territorial Cooperation has a limited spending scope and must be integrated into the mainstream cohesion policy funds, where there is a substantial amount of investment available, the director of ESPON EGTC, Ilona Raugze, told EURACTIV in an interview. ESPON EGTC is …
Slums develop as a response to poor city planning and a lack of affordable accommodation. While they exist all over the world, up to 90% of the population of the poorest countries live in these insecure settlements, Pierre-Arnaud Barthel told EURACTIV France.
Czech and Slovak national delegations to the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) recently presented a joint opinion on the future of cohesion policy after 2020, in which they set out seven common principles and priorities for the next programming period.
A new development fund launched in northern Greece aims to boost SMEs’ role in the local economy and simultaneously ensure transparency in financial management, the governor of the Western Macedonia region told EURACTIV Greece.
Regional structural funds absorption procedures should be simplified, Dr. Michael Schneider said in an interview with EURACTIV Greece, adding that financing through the European Strategic Investment Fund should also include a geographical factor.
The EU’s cohesion policy, which aims at closing the development gap between rich and poor regions, has succeeded in boosting local growth although many people aren't aware of it, professor John Bachtler said in an interview with EURACTIV Greece.
COP22 kicked off this week and achieving the goals set by the last instalment in Paris will top the agenda of the Marrakesh conference. EURACTIV Spain spoke with Miguel García-Herraiz about the climate challenges facing the countries that border the Mediterranean.
Local and regional authorities are stepping up their efforts to fight climate change, but limited access to finance often holds them back, Philippe Orliange told Cécile Barbière from EURACTIV France.
SPECIAL REPORT / Finance for developing nations will be central to successful negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conference, said Jonathan Taylor of the European Investment Bank.
The follow-up to COP21 will be crucial, the president of France's National Assembly’s Environment Committee told Aline Robert, the Editor-in-Chief of EURACTIV France.
Regions and cities are often the driving force behind climate action. Annabelle Jaeger told EURACTIV France that protecting nature directly benefits local authorities, as it keeps them attractive and helps them meet their climate commitments.
Frédéric Vallier spoke to EURACTIV France at the World Summit Climate & Territories in Lyon. He believes communities and regions hold the key to successful climate action.
The absorption rate for Greece stands well above the EU average. All efforts should be made to make the most out of the remaining allocation before the end of the year, Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cre?u told EURACTIV Greece in an exclusive interview.
The projects Germany is pursuing within the framework of the European Commission's €315 billion Investment offensive include outdated ideas and dead ends, says Peter Friedrich, Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Minister for Europe. The list, he says, urgently needs a general reworking, otherwise regions and municipalities will lose out.
Bernard Soulage believes that the Juncker plan shows a lack of ambition. He told EURACTIV France that he hopes to see the French regions play a greater role in the investment plan's implementation.
"My intention as a social democrat is to cut financing of projects that involve luxury investments which are not absolutely necessary, like fitness and SPA centres," Corina Cre?u, the new Romanian commissioner for Regional Policy, told EURACTIV Romania in an exclusive interview.
Belgium’s decentralized system favours greater autonomy for regions and results in an effective governance, improving service delivery to citizens and enhancing democratic stability, according to the President of the Committee of the Regions, Michel Lebrun.
German MEP Constanze Krehl was working to win a mandate on EU funds for the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework. She says EU funds will be completely revamped to support projects that fall in line with the EU's 2020 goals, but throws her support behind coal plants.
Meeting in Brussels today (1 April), regional leaders are expected to adopt a report that directly contradicts many of the European Commission's ideas for reforming the EU structural funds in the coming years. Mayor of Dunkirk Michel Delebarre spoke to EURACTIV about why the Committee of the Regions cannot support some of the Commission's plans.
