CDE News Strasbourg
The European Union is making available an unprecedented level of funding to ensure that no region within the Union is left behind according to EU Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, but the successful implementation of reforms ultimately depends on the national public administrations.
Ferreira was addressing a plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg.
She noted how 20% of all EU funding programmes starting this year, will ensure that every region within the EU participate fully in the digital transition. “All of our investments aim to ensure that every region has access to economic opportunities, to key infrastructure, and to public services”, she added.
Expressing appreciation for the numerous recommendations brought forward by the delegates at the plenary, Ferreira noted how their implementation depended crucially on the ability of the public sector to deliver them.
“Public administrations will have to design and deliver effective changes, and will need the skills and capacity to deliver reforms on the ground”, she remarked, recalling that the Commission instituted a Technical Support Instrument, for supporting public administrations as they design and implement reforms.
“Governments can ask for our support for many of the reforms that fit your recommendations, including education and skilling, childcare and healthcare, systems for pensions and wage setting, as well as many innovative green investments” she added.
Ferreira expressed particular support to a recommendation, presented in Saturday’s session, were citizens’ panels proposed that the EU legislates to incentivise companies to be socially responsible and to keep high-quality ‘smart working’ jobs within the Union. The Commissioner noted that this proposal would help address the challenge of brain drain within the EU.
