Ahead of the State of the Union address on 10 September 2025 the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the Regions underlines that the proposal by President Von der Leyen for the new MFF undermines the very principles on which our European Union is built, putting its foundations and the Union’s future directly at risk.
The EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is not just a long-term budget—it is a political instrument that shapes how citizens perceive the Union. EU investments on the ground are one of the most visible ways that citizens experience Europe in their daily lives: through investments in infrastructure, innovation, skills and services in their towns and regions.
Since the Maastricht Treaty, the investment plans of cohesion policy have always been developed together with the regional and local authorities that are responsible for identifying the local needs, and of carrying out the investments. The 7-year planning cycle of the EU budget provides subnational authorities with long-term stability for planning and implementation, protecting the funds from the pressures of electoral cycles, in a way that no national government can match.
However, despite multiple meetings in the past twelve months and private reassurances to the contrary, the European Commission has gone ahead with a proposal for the new MFF which will have the dangerous result of disconnecting the Union from its citizens, by effectively renationalising EU funding and removing any obligations by national governments to involve subnational authorities in the design and implementation of investments. Indeed, funds risk being diverted to national priorities, weakening the EU’s ability to achieve its strategic goals and widening territorial divides.
By proposing to merge all shared management funds into a single national plan per Member State, eliminating regional programmes and removing enforceable partnership obligations, the European Commission is breaking the direct link with the local and regional authorities that deliver EU policies on the ground. This is not a technical simplification—it is a structural shift that destroys subsidiarity and multilevel governance. If local and regional authorities are excluded from shaping and delivering EU investments, mayors and regional leaders will have little incentive to defend or implement EU policies. Citizens will no longer see the EU’s added value in their communities, eroding trust and fuelling discontent. This is not just about money; it is about the Union’s democratic legitimacy and its capacity to deliver on the ground. Let’s not forget that there are 1.2 million democratically elected representatives at the subnational level in the EU-27, who are collectively responsible for 50% of all public investment that is carried out in the Union, and responsible for implementing 2/3 of the laws that are drafted and approved by you in the European Parliament. Disconnecting the Union from the subnational level of government is therefore a grave strategic mistake by the European Commission!
In addition, it is an attack on the principles of our political family. As per the ALDE Party resolution approved at its 2016 congress in Warsaw, two fundamental liberal principles are at the heart of Cohesion Policy: allowing citizens to decide how to govern and shape the local communities in which they live; and helping individuals accomplish their full potential by ensuring they have the necessary infrastructure and means at their reach. And in 2024, the EDP election manifesto described how Cohesion Policy reinforces our Union as “a powerful and fundamental tool for combating regional disparities”, and committed to facilitating even further the role of subnational authorities in the management of EU funds.
For Renew Europe, defending Cohesion Policy is therefore not just a technical matter—it is a political imperative. It is true that Cohesion Policy needs reforming and improving as we have often proposed in the European Committee of the Regions, but it is undeniable that it has been one of the most successful EU policies, strengthening competitiveness, reducing disparities, and bringing citizens closer to their Union. Undermining this architecture risks weakening the Union at its core. As the most pro-European political family, we must ensure that Europe remains tangible in people’s daily lives by empowering the cities and regions that deliver the Union’s objectives on the ground.
The enormous challenges we face in this century require a strong bond between the Union and its citizens, a bond that is fragile. With the new MFF as currently proposed, regional leaders, mayors, and ultimately citizens, will feel rejected by the Union and instead of becoming stronger, the bond will weaken dangerously.
