This transcript was automatically generated and may contain errors.

Thank you very much, President Tuto.

Now, now I can open the floor for your questions.

Please make sure, let's focus first on the questions concerning the topic of the, of the conference.

If time allows, I'll, I'll, I'll, ask you to ask other questions. Please. Vice President. Strong regions means strong Europe.

How can we do that with no money? Why not?

The proposal the proposal of the European Commission,

we have comparable numbers like the current programs.

Now we have to wait for the debate, the discussion, the decisions that the Council,

the European Parliament will take, but we have the money in the proposal of the European Commission.

We have a different method but not less money.

It is very important to understand the new approach, the new structure of the budget, but the problem is not the money.

It's a new model that we are proposing,

and it is an opportunity to continue in the process of modernization of cohesion policy because we have to adapt cohesion policy to the new priorities.

This is the point, but As you know, I think that the European Commission's and in particular my position is to work in this way,

to work with a very important role of the regions, the cities,

not only for the meetings but also for the work that we are doing.

I mentioned before, for example, the strategies that we approved or we are preparing.

For the first time we have a European agenda for the cities.

For the first time we presented the strategies that face the specificities that we have in Europe,

like for example the eastern border regions.

For the first time, the strategy for the outermost regions goes also with the legislative proposal. It was an important.

Message, but we are working for the right to stay strategy now.

For the first time we have a strategy for islands.

We are entering the details of the real needs that the territories have,

but now it is important also to follow a new approach with a new governance because if we want to have more simplification.

We have to give the right answer about some important issues.

I would like to to do only one example. Now we have more than 500 programs.

In the proposal of the European Commission for the next MFF,

we have only 27 national and regional partnership plans. It is important to understand.

It's clear that we have to keep the approach, the role of the regions,

the role of cities, but this is the effort that we are doing.

And if you see the regulation of the national and regional partnership plans, you can.

Find the many points in this direction, for example, for the categories of regions, for the principle of cohesion, etc.

I think it is the work that we are doing,

and we have to continue in very close cooperation with the member states,

regions, cities, the Committee of Regions clearly. Thank you Vice President.

When you ask your question, please make sure to use the mic, Please. Thank you. My name is Lucian Bolenuzzi.

I work for Radio Romania Jas Regional Public Radio.

I have one question for Vice President Fito and one question for President Tuto.

In your speech you have highlighted the notion of eastern border regions.

You said that investing in them means investing in Europe's security.

Will that earmarked money for eastern border regions survive the cuts?

Can you guarantee it will be ring-fenced in the national and regional partnership plans? And for President Kata Tüttö, your core mission.

Said a month ago that security funding for eastern border regions must be, and I quote, additional stable and long term, not taken from existing cohesion money,

but the Irish Ngo Box published on Saturday offers these regions, and I quote,

at least at this initial stage, opportunities for support with no dedicated amount. What is your take in this regard? Thank you.

Yes, I said before that for the first time we have a new strategy for the eastern border regions.

It was a very important news in this direction because We presented these strategies with after an important dialogue with the local authorities and the national governments,

the regions.

I visited personally all borders of those regions to understand directly on the ground the real situation,

and I would like also to underline one important fact because In the proposal of the midterm review for the first time we decided with the member states with the regions how it is possible to redirect the resources and we decided together with an important agreement with the member states and regions the new priorities.

One of these priorities was in this defense.

And it was also connected to the dual use of these resources and I can underline also the fact that we redirected 35 billion as I mentioned before,

but 12 out of 35 were for defense and in particular the the the the the request in this direction.

Were requests from the Baltics, Finland, and all member states that are to the border. These are very important issues.

Then the, the strategy, the strategies are tools for the next national regional partnership plan,

as you know, we have.

Discussion for the next MFF and we have to wait also the decision of the Council, the European Parliament, but the midterm review was an important first example in this way because the defense, for example,

was not a traditional defense, but in these territories, in these regions was a dual use,

and the dual use is a civilian and military use of the resources, and this is a cohesion.

Because if you see the situation in these territories, in this region, in those regions,

you can see also the real needs of these territories because in in those regions we have now and the population phenomenon it's very important to give the right answer and this is an example of how it's possible to adapt cohesion policy to the new priorities first of all.

Second is that And the, the, the, the debate over the discussion that we will have in the coming weeks and later this week in the Council,

we will see also if there are some specific decision in this way. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Yes, so what we call cities and regions is absolutely in line with that. We call for a standalone, strong.

European cohesion policy and each and every one of those words matter because now cohesion policy is Disconnected.

From competitiveness and the single market and it's ranked to national budgets, and this is what is happening that by moving under simplification,

it's simpler for the European Commission if you ask member state governments, drawing a national and regional partnership plan.

Took part in many of these discussions with national governments.

They say it's like filling out a killer sudoku with all the vertical and horizontal,

mainstreaming that has to be fulfilled.

So what is happening that a competition is starting and moving and complexity is just shifting from the European level to the national level,

and there will be a strong competition among priorities.

So when The Commission asks for a ring fence.

It is to limit the competition because what is the big Conflict on all levels, and there is no good and bad path. There are things I support.

I think the role of European funds, and especially cohesion funds, is to stay a predictable and long term investment,

because we see with this constant crisis mode that more and more of our national funds and resources are also competing in investments of today and tomorrow. Today is winning over tomorrow.

More and more of our resources are moving from long term investment to short emergency responses,

and one of the important rules of cohesion policy being a long term investment policy is that it also anchors national resources.

Attention and local resources to invest in long term transitions and long term European goals.

If there is a competition which is called flexibility, I see it as a competition.

I called it Hunger Games a year ago because this is what it is.

Food security competing with social cohesion, industrial economy cohesion, with investing in youth unemployment, with housing,

with water resilience, with migration, with border control, with eastern border regions, with fish.

And all the other priorities,

and the conflict is moving to the national governments and national governments also have more and more short term vision pushed by national elections. I see this as a risk. Thank you, President. Perhaps they'll be back.

My name is Annabelle Arki of Croatian Radio Television.

I have a question for Vice President Fito and for both Thank you.

We can also hear the voices from the European Commission not being happy with the cuts to the flexibility to the rainy,

rainy day funds that would make Europe less equipped to deal with future crises that also can be. The regions can be struck by it.

And what do you expect from this week's Council,

and do you expect the negotiations to be done by the end of the year?

And since frugal countries are saying that they definitely need to cut cohesion and agriculture, thank you very much. Thank you.

We read and took the note of the revised NO box circulated by the Irish presidency this weekend.

We are analyzing the proposal and we will continue to work constructively with the Presidency, member states,

and the European Parliament, as well as with the President of the European Council to advance the negotiations. Stop. I cannot say other issues. Thank you. Thank you, Vice President. Flexibility, yes.

Coming from a local and regional perspective, because that is my role here, having long term predictable resources are essential at the moment,

because what I was describing earlier,

because there's this constant tension and competition between the problems of today and tomorrow,

like climate change mitigation, adaptation.

Energy transition and security and energy affordability, biodiversity and housing, data centers and energy security,

a lot of competing priorities and also competing time frames and everything moving from tomorrow to today.

This we see as a problem and predictability as a problem and losing agency as local and regional leaders in the design of the investments a problem.

Coming back to the second part of your question, cutting cohesion, cutting cohesion policy is cutting. Investments in competitiveness.

It is, and this is the proposal,

shifting place-based competitiveness to mission-led competitiveness directed by the European Commission. There's a fresh study.

I think it's very interesting to read for everyone. It was published in August.

It did an experiment, and if you invest the same amount of money.

Mission led like the Horizon program or place-based like the cohesion funds, the same money produces very, very different results,

almost the same in GDP,

but there's a threefold difference in how many jobs it produces and investing.

In a place-based way, produces 3 times as many jobs, creates 3 times as many jobs as the mission led.

It's a clear choice that Europe has to make, and it's quite clear, which I support.

I support that investments, European investments cannot be territorially blind. Thank you.

Do you have any questions about the European Week of Regions, please, Gerardo, is it about the European Week of Regions? Go ahead.

Yeah, Gerardo Bueno from Politico, this is a question on the, the European Week of Region because as we've seen from the first question, even in this press conference, there's, there's this ominous vibe, around the cohesion, this kind of sense of end of the world for the cohesion,

even the organizer of this, week, we don't even know if it's gonna exist after, this, In, in a bunch,

in a couple of years, and also we are ahead of European Council,

regardless of the size of the president Tüttö said. The delivery model is different. Regions might be sidelined.

I just want to ask both Vice President and The President Tuto,

if there's this feeling of end of the war, this, this, this ominous feeling. Looming over this, these regions week.

This is an important opportunity this week and I think that we have to work for the coming years to organize this week because this dialogue have to continue. We are working.

As I said, to adapt the role of the regions and the policy, the cohesion policy in the new context that we, we have,

in particular for the new priorities that we have to face,

and I believe that it will be very important to adapt this role.

I was the president of one region in the past and I know.

Well, how important the role of the regions for many policies that we have to face, but now,

as I said, we have to have a new approach for the perspective for the future of the regions.

And in this way I think that the work that we did in the midterm review was a very clear example in this way because we are speaking in this period of one of the new emergencies housing,

for example.

In the midterm review we put this point as one of the priorities and we redirected.

More than €3 billion in this way, and I would like to mention some other examples that was important for the longer term investment like water, like energy for example, and The new priorities that we put in this work,

we have to continue in this way and I would like also to mention for the next MFF another important point because in the regulation of the national and regional partnership plans,

the role of the regions are fundamental because we keep the three categories of regions.

Because we keep the principle of cohesion policy and we have many points in this regulation that is directed to the specificities that we have in the different territories,

and I think that we have to go in this way.

I'm confident that we can work in the future very in a very positive approach also with a clear and strong involvement in the role of the regions.

Yes, we have a different situation in Europe because the role of the regions, as Qatar knows very well,

is not the same in all member states because we have some member states where the regions.

Are strong, have constitutional powers, have a responsibility over their programs until now, and we have to redesign this role because this is different in this new approach in this new structure, but If we want to give the right answer to the new needs that we have in the world,

it is important to adapt these traditional policies to the new needs that we have,

and I am convinced that the role of the regions, it will be fundamental also for the future. Thank you.

I'll build on my experience of the past.

So the sun always gets up the next day, so it's not the end of the world, but I'm a budget person.

I have been dealing with budgets for more than 20 years,

and how I see this process is that if we accept and if the Member States accept.

The ranking of cohesion policy from being a European standalone policy to being part of just one of the priorities within a national envelope.

By the next budget discussions, there will be No cohesion policy. This is what will happen. This is the process. This is the direction. This is how I see it.

Of course, this opinion can be contested, but this is based on my political practice.

Look, We agree in most of the things.

What we see from the regional perspective is that while there is a big push coming from the outside world and also coming from the center for a bigger speed.

And bigger concentration, we see from regional elections that our citizens are pushing the brakes,

like more and more because they want agency over the things that are happening to them.

And we have very, very similar feelings when it comes to cities and regions.

We have, we see growing responsibilities, growing anxiety levels, and less and less room for maneuver.

And what I what I represent here is not the Hungarian regions.

We see the concerns of Olof the German regions, Olof, Olof the Austrian regions,

from those places where regions have constitutional rights,

the regions of Spain are anxious, the regions of Italy are anxious.

So this is not just coming from places where regions don't have constitutional rights. The anxiety level is very high.

And the reassurance is not sufficient at the moment, but I, I see the efforts,

and I especially see all the efforts of the executive vice president who has been fighting very strongly together with us for cohesion policy,

for the future of cohesion policy. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you to Olof you.

With that, I would like to conclude the press conference.

Thank you to the speakers, to our translators, and I wish you a very nice day. Thank you.