ECR Group Vice-President Oldřich Vlasák (Councillor of the City of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic) called on the European Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans to improve EU governance structures and include local and regional government in decisions concerning the future EU budget. The aim of the structured dialogue that took place on 31 January where the two politicians met was to facilitate a discussion between the European associations of local and regional governments and the European Commission on the EU's priorities for 2018.

"Much has been said about the uphill struggle that Europe faces to regain the trust of its citizens. Europe's leaders must seize the occasion to rethink the European project and reshape its policies and institutions", said the ECR Vice-President. Referring specifically to better law-making, he said that "given the increased impact of EU regulations on the local and regional level, we need appropriate mechanisms, efficient tools and governance structures, where local and regional governments and their representative organisations are instrumental in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and legislation".

This led the ECR Group Member to the newly created Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and "Doing Less More Efficiently". The Task Force, created in January this year, will identify policy areas where work could be devolved or definitely returned to Member States, as well as ways to better involve regional and local authorities in EU policy making.

"The contribution of the three senior CoR members of the Task Force can help to advance the input of municipalities in devising and shaping EU policies. However, I believe that we need to establish a targeted consultation mechanism, similar to the Social Dialogue. Systematic territorial impact assessments on relevant policy and legislative initiatives should be executed, aiming at identifying the levels of government concerned and leading to the application of the partnership principle and the code of conduct as introduced in the European Structural and Investment Funds", said Mr Vlasák.

Apart from the contribution of local and regional authorities to better law-making, participants discussed the need to improve the impact of subnational government on shaping the EU budget. Deciding on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is a priority of the Commission for 2018. However, the ECR Vice-President noted that the Commission's consultations on the next generation of financial programmes have been an unsatisfactory exercise for local and regional government seeking to provide meaningful input and insight. There has been no specific consultation on the MFF that would allow local and regional government to input their views on the EU's future budget.

Mr Vlasák: "What is often overlooked is the fact that there are many issues, where sub-national level efforts are essential to achieving overall EU goals. It is therefore important that the future budget is guided by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and tailored to enable easy access by municipalities and regions, and – where possible – delivered as close as possible to the citizens' needs".

Oldřich Vlasák is Councillor for the City of Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic and Vice-President of the ECR Group in the European Committee of the Regions. He is also Vice-President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and former Vice-President of the European Parliament.