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REPORT (2023/2048(INI))

On the implementation of territorial development (CPR, Title III, Chapter II) and its application in the European Territorial Agenda 2030

A-9-2023-0420

Committee on Regional Development · Rapporteur: Marcos Ros Sempere

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's resolution on how territorial development under the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) and the Territorial Agenda 2030 have been implemented. It reviews the use of Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) and Community Led Local Development (CLLD) in 2014-2020 and 2021-2027, and asks for simpler rules, more funding and stronger local involvement. It finds implementation uneven across member states, notes the Territorial Agenda 2030 is an intergovernmental declaration with no direct legal, financial or institutional instruments, and calls for its priorities to be built into cohesion policy legislation and funding.

Committee position. The Committee on Regional Development proposes that Parliament adopt the resolution, which reviews the implementation of territorial development tools and the Territorial Agenda 2030 and calls for simpler rules, more funding and stronger local involvement.

Key points

  1. Stresses that in 2014-2020 only 28% of sustainable urban development strategies used ITIs, and asks the Commission to encourage use of such tools through more communication.
  2. Calls on the Commission and member states to reinforce LEADER by increasing its budget, guaranteeing Local Action Groups autonomy and cutting administrative burden.
  3. Asks the Commission to use the 2024 evaluation report and CLLD results for 2021-2027 programmes, and regrets that a European Court of Auditors special report found LEADER and CLLD benefits not sufficiently demonstrated.
  4. Welcomes the handbooks on territorial and urban development strategies but regrets their late publication, and seeks more guidance, flexibility and funding incentives for Policy Objective 5 'Europe closer to citizens'.
  5. Calls on member states to promote strategic spatial planning beyond urban areas, strengthen rural-urban links and consider cross-border planning through CLLD and ITI.
  6. Asks the Commission and Council to earmark funding for rural areas and regions with severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, as 8% of cohesion funds are earmarked for the Urban Agenda.
  7. Calls for a paradigm shift in involving local and regional authorities in planning, implementing and managing territorial tools, with effective partnership and consultation before defining ITI and CLLD actions.
  8. Wants strategies funded by more than one programme merged into a single track under Article 28 CPR, and welcomes the option of a lead fund in 2021-2027.
  9. Calls on member states and the Commission to simplify fund management, especially where CLLDs draw on more than one fund, and notes ITIs are the main tool used by member states with larger ERDF allocations.
  10. Calls on the Commission to clarify the distinction between committed and non-committed member states, provide tailored technical support, and takes the view that integrated territorial development tools should be mandatory.
  11. Welcomes technical simplifications in 2021-2027 but asks the Commission and member states to keep extra administrative rules to a strict minimum and focus on proportionality, since small projects face higher relative burdens.
  12. Calls on the Commission and member states to carry out a coherent review of the Territorial Agenda 2030 by the end of 2024, covering governance, implementation progress and the relevance of its priorities.

Who is affected

  • Local and regional authorities, which should be involved from the start in planning, implementing and managing ITI and CLLD actions.
  • Member states, which are asked to promote strategic spatial planning, strengthen rural-urban links and develop territorial agendas in line with the Territorial Agenda 2030.
  • Rural areas, mountainous areas, islands, coastal, remote and sparsely populated areas, which should benefit from funding and tailored strategies.
  • Local Action Groups and ITI partners, which should receive technical support and advisory services and sufficient human resources.
  • Businesses, which could play an essential role in territorial development strategies through collaboration with local and regional authorities.

Figures and deadlines

  • 8% of ERDF funding at national level must be allocated to sustainable urban development, compared to 5% for the previous programming period.
  • In 2014-2020, funding planned for territorial and urban strategies amounted to approximately EUR 30 billion, nearly 10 percent of total cohesion policy funding.
  • In 2014-2020, 1 975 strategies were programmed among the then 28 Member States, financed with EUR 19 billion from the ERDF, of which EUR 13.8 billion went to ITIs in nine Member States.
  • Only 28% of strategies for sustainable urban development were implemented through ITIs in 2014-2020.
  • Seven pilot actions were launched with the adoption of the Territorial Agenda 2030.
  • The Territorial Agenda 2030 envisages a stocktaking in 2024, and the review should be completed by the end of 2024.

Legal basis: Article 28 CPR designates ITIs and CLLD as instruments for implementing territorial development strategies; Article 8 CPR concerns partnership.