COTER: EA members on Cohesion Policy, metropolitan areas and affordable housing

Cohesion Policy COTER Declan McDonnell Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis Cosmina-Ramona Pandele

The final in a series of CoR commissions held over the past two weeks was the second meeting of the new COTER commission, wherein EA Group members debated the future of the Cohesion Policy, the strengthening of metropolitan areas and the European Commission’s Affordable Housing Plan.

Kicking off the EA Group’s debating engagement was EA Group President and Chair of the Corsican Assembly, Nanette Maupertuis, who stressed the importance of place-based policymaking and empowering territorial authorities in discussions on the future of Cohesion Policy.

President Maupertuis highlighted that isolated and disadvantaged areas across the EU have unique needs that cannot be adequately addressed through centralised policymaking.

Declan McDonnell, a member of the Galway City Council, added to this by warning against centralisation trends, stressing that without consistent and meaningful involvement of LRAs, local regions will struggle to see tangible results of the Cohesion Policy.

Subsequent debating approaches to strengthening urban areas, EA Group’s COTER coordinator Cosmina-Ramona Pandele, mayor of Berceni, Romania drew attention to the needs of rural communities located within metropolitan areas.

‘It is very important that nobody is left behind’ emphasised Ms Pandele, who stressed that rural communities provide crucial services to urban areas yet are frequently overlooked in efforts to solve metropolitan socio-economic issues.

Finally, Ms Maupertuis and Ms Pandele re-entered the discussion to debate the European Commission’s upcoming Affordable Housing Plan.

Addressing the housing pressures faced by local residents and LRAs in tourist areas, President Maupertuis underscored the need for stronger regulations on tourist accommodations to ease market tensions caused by over-tourism and holiday home proliferation.

Ms Pandele followed up by promoting partnership and cooperative approaches to tackling the housing crisis, sharing an example from her home region of Berceni, Romania, where local actors, residents and NGOs collaboratively provided housing for families in need.