From Europe to the Regions: an active cooperation to promote territorial cohesion

DATE DE PUBLICATION 23/06/2026

From Europe to the Regions: an active cooperation to promote territorial cohesion

To mark the Europe Day, France Active interviewed Isabelle Boudineau, Regional Councillor for Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and Chair of the French delegation at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). This discussion highlights just how vital Europe is to the economic development of the regions. As for the role of this Committee, it has taken on a decisive one in shaping public policies by acting as a forum for dialogue and consultation between the regions and the European institutions.

Since 2014, the regions have been managing the vast majority of European Structural Funds. We are now approaching the end of the second programming period during which they have been managing authorities. What lessons have you learnt from these two programming cycles?

The Regions and Europe form a partnership working to promote territorial and social cohesion. This is the result of a political initiative led by Alain Rousset, then President of the Régions de France association, who persuaded François Hollande to entrust the Regions directly with the bulk of the management of European funds. This is indeed an act of decentralisation in all but name, and it is a genuine tool for the development of regional policies. It makes perfect sense, given that there is complete alignment between European strategies and the regions’ competences, particularly regarding economic development in the broadest sense: competitiveness, research, innovation, employment and vocational training.

How does European support for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region translate into concrete action?

In our region, the EU cohesion policy budget for the 2021–2027 programming period (ERDF and ESF+), amounts to €875 million. We are allocating over €300 million to competitiveness and innovation initiatives. As for the energy and ecological transition, this accounts for over 40% of the ERDF budget, €250 million, whereas Europe requires us to allocate only 30% to this area. This is in line with the European Green Deal, a political decision specific to our region. Another distinctive feature of our regional approach is that we are entrusting local stakeholders with €124 million from the ERDF so that they can work closely with local residents.

These latter organise themselves into Local Action Groups and sign a territorial development contract with the Region. We are channelling 17% of ERDF funding into this initiative, in addition to the Leader programme (funds dedicated to rural areas), amounting to a total of €193 million in leverage for these areas.

What is the concrete contribution of the European policy supporting social and solidarity economy (SSE) actors?

We are quite proud of the way we are channelling ESF funding into the social and solidarity economy, as exemplified by our AMPLI scheme (Support for the Launch of Local and Innovative Micro-Projects). All the Region’s initiatives relating to the SSE are co-financed by the ESF. We have a total budget of €23 million, which has supported around 260 projects to date. Part of this funding goes towards SSE support networks, which in turn support and structure the ecosystem. We also fund employment cooperatives and incubators. More broadly, we contribute to the professionalisation of stakeholders. It is also worth noting that we assist the Region’s economic stakeholders in preparing applications for European funding submitted to the Commission.

You have been chairing the French delegation to the European Committee of the Regions for the past year and a half. What role does it play in the development of European policies?

Before starting working with European affairs within the Region in 2016, I was unaware of the role of this committee, a body that has grown in influence and importance within the European political landscape. It has gained significance, particularly in the face of rising Euroscepticism: for the European Commission, it serves as a means of having a network of local representatives to assess the feasibility of their proposals. Now the Commissioners all come to present major policies and gauge the Regions’ views. Although advisory in nature, the Committee of the Regions is fully integrated with the work of the Parliament. Our opinions are timed to coincide with the schedule of texts presented to the Parliament so that the voice of the Regions can be heard in the debates. MEPs have, moreover, clearly understood the value of consulting us and drawing on our examples. We act as watchdogs, evaluators and inspirers of European policies.

And as for the 2028–2034 programming period, what are the initial priorities taking shape?

Last July, the Commission’s President announced the merger of two major European policies – cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy – into a single pillar. In other words, there will be real competition within this new pillar, particularly in France, and cohesion policy will become the adjustment variable for the new programming period.

Another concern relates to the governance of European funds, particularly the retention of the Regions as managing authorities with the capacity to draw up their own regional programmes focused on priorities they deem beneficial to their local areas. We see a risk here that funding will be channelled towards large companies at the expense of SMEs and micro-enterprises, and the organisations that need it most. Our SMEs are not on the government’s radar, yet they are the ones creating jobs. We also have concerns regarding the social and solidarity economy. Indeed, whilst a 14% allocation for social objectives is planned, the role of the SSE within this is unclear. Questions arise: will the social economy continue to be covered by the ESF+? Or partly by the ERDF? Or within a second pillar linked to competitiveness, a new instrument (Facility) managed directly by the European Commission? These questions make it difficult to prepare this new programming period. To date, we are unable to engage regional stakeholders in developing the new roadmap for 2034, given the uncertainties surrounding both budget allocation and governance.

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DATE DE PUBLICATION 23/06/2026