PLATFORMA strengthens links with the Council

The Secretariat of PLATFORMA is having regular meetings with EU Member States Permanent Representations to reinforce its advocacy towards the Council and update them on the local and regional governments policy positions.

In August, the PLATFORMA Secretariat met with the Finnish Permanent Representation, who holds the Presidency of the Council until the end of the year, and will represent the Member States for the trilogues that will start on 23 October. The NDICI working party advisor explained that the Council had still to agree on a few topics, such as the future European Funds of Sustainable Development Plus (EFDS+), as well as the migration and climate sectors.

Just as the French Permanent Representation, he insisted on the necessity to focus now on the preparation of the programming phase, which already started in Brussels with the pre-programming briefings and regional assessment. The other big question mark is related to the governance of the instrument and the role of the Member States in the implementation and programming of the development policy.

In October, we met collectively with Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Spain. The same week, we had a bilateral meeting with Sweden. The Council will not open the Pandora Box by opening the debate on a proper budget line for Local and Regional Governments. According to them, this would be in opposition with the aim of this new instrument, which should avoid numerous thematic lines to favour geographical facilities. However if the European Parliament put it on the table, they might not oppose.

Have a look at the pictures of the 1st October meeting.