EPP Cohesion Missions

With the closure of the 2014-2020 MFF, every EU Member State has experienced the positive effects of the financing through the EU budget. EU investments in transport infrastructure, energy, SMEs, skills, innovation, agriculture, reforms and other fields build the EU in times of peace and rebuild the EU in times of crises.

The EPP Cohesion Missions are one-day field visits of up to four EPP Group MEPs to Member States, EU regions, cities and rural areas, hosted by a respective EPP Group MEP. The activities include multiple EU project site visits, meetings with EPP leaders, mayors, governors, ministers and MPs, members of regional and city parliaments as well as press briefing and other outreach and communications activities. The activities also include meetings with beneficiaries of EU financing (such as SMEs, universities, individuals, NGOs, farmers, public bodies) in order to underline the outcomes and the positive impact of EU investments.

Project areas may include COVID-19 funding; SME support; R&I; digitalisation; farming; urban infrastructure; tourism; large transport infrastructure; culture and education; healthcare; cross-border projects; energy transition; energy efficiency; climate and environment Ukraine-related financing.

There are two objectives:

• To show the success stories across the EU, their impact on people and the economy as well as to discuss implementation challenges.
• To underline the causal link between the ecosystem of EPP Group policy makers and the inflow of EU investments, which underlines the EPP Groups role and carries a pro-EU message of cohesion in the context of the crises. EPP leaders, mayors, regional governors, ministers, governments, MPs, members of regional and city parliaments and MEPs have contributed greatly to the regional inflow of EU investment.

The Cohesion Monitoring Group (CMG) is an EPP Group format established as a cross-committee platform open to all EPP Members who are interested in how approximately one third of the EU budget is channelled towards investments, delivering the EU political priorities and strengthening the EU economic, social and territorial cohesion. Andrey NOVAKOV, EPP REGI coordinator, chairs the format.

CMG has three focus areas:

1. Providing visibility of cohesion policy results and impact on EU citizens, businesses and regions;
2. Tracking the closure of the 2014-2020 cohesion policy and the implementation of the 2021-2027 programming periods;
3. Shaping the future of cohesion policy beyond 2027.

The CMG operates in various formats by inviting Commission representatives, representatives of regional and national authorities, mayors, managing authorities, beneficiaries and stakeholders. It is a platform for presenting cohesion policy success stories and for organising mission visits to Member States, regions, cities and specific projects.

So far, the events of the CMG involved: Chairman Weber; Commissioners Johannes Hahn; Elisa Ferreira; former Commissioner Mariya Gabriel; Ville Itälä, Director-General of OLAF; Iliana Ivanova, former Member of the European Court of Auditors; Olgierd Geblewicz, President of the EPP Group in the CoR; Siegfried Muresan, EPP Group Vice-Chair & Chair of WG Budget and Structural Policies; EPP MEPs from four committees; cooperation with the EPP Group Outreach and Communication.