Van Rompuy pleit in gesprek met regio's en steden over de groei-agenda voor een toekomstgerichte begrotingsconsolidatie (en)

At the Committee of the Regions (CoR) plenary today the President of the European Council, Van i Rompuy, underlined the commitment of the EU institutions to actively respond to the challenge of possibly, the worse crisis of the last 70 years. “We are not discovering growth now, under the pressure of the political debate and of the media, we are focusing on it since two years”, Van Rompuy said, “at the June (upcoming) European Council meeting, the European Commission will present the agenda for growth, including a stronger role of the European Investment Bank and the quick launch of Project Bonds”. He stressed that austerity is not been practiced “for pleasure” but instead, “to allow more durable growth.”

Responding to the President of the CoR, Mercedes Bresso i, who voiced the European regions' and cities' concerns about the major cuts to social expenditure and crucial investments, Van Rompuy made clear that, “whilst it is not up to the European Union to intervene in the implementation of structural reforms and of budget consolidations measures, Member States carry the responsibility of following a future-oriented consolidation strategy, preserving vital investments such as the ones for education, research, innovation and sustainability.” He argued that at the same time all the EU institutions are playing an important role to support the struggle for recovery and in delivering the Europe 2020 Strategy. On this point, he congratulated the CoR for establishing the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform.

Michael Schneider (DE/EPP), President of the European People's Party (EPP) added that it is crucial to “spend the funds in a more efficient way and specifically in areas where we have the highest leverage effect to spur on further private and public investments”. Van Rompuy defended the proposals of the European Commission stating that, “while the allocation for the cohesion policy has been frozen, its relative weight within the overall budget has increased”, reflecting an awareness of the critical importance that cohesion plays within EU policies.

The serious lack of investment in supporting local development bringing jobs and growth to European citizens was raised by Karl-Heinz Lambertz (BE/PES), President of the CoR's PES. His address focused on the critical situation of local and regional authorities and on the need for Europe, “to send clear signals to encourage the overcoming of the current difficulties.” This position was shared by the President of the CoR's EA, Jerzy Zajakala (PL/EA), and by Flo Clucas (UK/ALDE), Chair of ALDE, also proposed introducing new tools to support economic growth. In response Van Rompuy underlined the vital role of the European Investment Bank which he described as one of the, “biggest multilateral bank in the world”, which was anticipating a planned increase of €10 billon in its financial capacity, leading, thanks to its multiplier role, to an overall "lending capacity by €60bn of new loans in the next three years, to support new investments up to €180bn". Von Rompuy referred to the commitment of accelerating the launch of Project Bonds to support infrastructural projects. He concluded saying that, “All these issues will be treated in the June summit and on that occasion all Member States wishing to launch new proposals and ideas will be welcomed.”

During the debate Van Rompuy recognised the role of regional and local authorities both in dealing with the crisis and with the re-launch of local economies, and in sustaining the impact of budget consolidation measures promoting a better comprehension of the on-going structural reforms among citizens and local communities. The need for these reforms has been evidenced by CoR's First Vice-President Ramon Luis Valcárcel Siso (ES/EPP) who made it clear that, “if we want to avoid the mistakes and limits encountered in the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, local and regional authorities shall be fully involved in the realisation of Europe 2020 strategy."