"Today's vote by the European Parliament in favour of the urgent procedure for the mid-term review of cohesion policy is an excellent signal", said Marco Marsilio, President of the ECR Group at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and President of the Abruzzo Region.

"Recent geopolitical challenges have placed regions at the forefront of new economic and social challenges that require targeted solutions tailored to territorial specificities. We therefore welcome the Commission's proposal to allow Member States and regions, on a voluntary basis, to allocate resources related to the new EU strategic priorities, in the fields of defence, competitiveness, housing, water resilience and energy". 

Marsilio concluded that "by raising the co-financing threshold to 100% for strategic priorities, the mid-term review of cohesion policy finally allows regions to not have to commit for European projects part of their annual budget dedicated to current expenditure. We also hope that the next programming period 2028-2034 will be marked by the introduction of genuine simplification and flexibility long awaited by the EU's regions".