Corina Creţu - 116th Plenary Session - European Committee of the Regions

During a debate in Brussels with the EU's Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu, members of the European Committee of the Regions reiterated previous demands to cut red tape, better integrate private financing and strengthen the role of local and regional authorities in the design and implementation of the EU's € 350bn cohesion policy. Speaking during the debate at the CoRs' plenary, Commissioner Creţu stated: "Dialogue with regional and local leaders is of utmost importance today as Europe is going through one of the most difficult crises of its history. Cohesion policy could be part of the answer since it is the only EU policy whose functioning is based on a real partnership with Member States and regional and local authorities. This year will be devoted to implementing the policy and translating our ambitious objectives into high-quality projects. Let's not forget that cohesion policy made a serious effort to respond to the question of performance. The work of the CoR will be crucial to engage regional and local actors in the debate regarding the future of our policy.'' Follow us on: www.cor.europa.eu www.facebook.com/committee.of.the.regions   / eu_cor