Our President Rob Jonkman (Alderman in Opsterland in the Netherlands) was appointed the spokesperson for the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on the "European Semester and Cohesion Policy: aligning structural reforms with long term investments". This opinion looks at the European Semester, which enables the EU member countries to coordinate their economic policies, and the links between the European Semester and Cohesion Policy.

The opinion looks into the connection between the European Semester and the new cohesion programmes under the 2021-2027 EU budget. It is particularly topical because it ties in with the referral from the upcoming Romanian Presidency on the workings of the Cohesion Policy.

The upcoming Romanian Presidency had previously asked the European Committee of the Regions to consider drafting an opinion on the issue of the connection between the European Semester and the EU's Cohesion Policy. The Presidency is interested in exploring the ways in which the Semester could be improved in terms of better ownership and governance.

Currently, the implementation of half of the European Semester's Country Specific Recommendations requires local and regional authority action. However, local and regional authorities are not formally involved in setting the recommendations, which leads to low implementation rates – only 1% being fully or substantially implemented in 2017. It is essential that local and regional authorities are treated as partners as they represent 41 national parliament chambers, 74 regional legislative assemblies, the 280 regions and the 80,000 local authorities.

The new EU budget for 2021-2027 as proposed by the European Commission will enhance the connection between the EU's cohesion spending and the European Semester. As such, Mr Jonkman's leadership on this opinion will be a very good opportunity to explore this closer cooperation.