20.12.2024
regions of Northern and Eastern Finland: The principle of area-based development to be safeguarded in the future EU funding model
The Advisory Board for Eastern and Northern Finland met on Thursday 19 December 2024 in Helsinki. The meeting was formed Common position paper on the future financing model of the European Union. The common intention of the regions of Eastern and Northern Finland is that the principle of area-based development will be safeguarded also after 2028.
The European Commission is preparing to present a proposal for a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in spring 2025. The Commission's aim is to move from the current funding package of more than 500 funding programmes to a model of 27 funding programmes. That is, one plan per Member State, including all funds allocated nationally. There would also be one Interreg programme for the whole of Europe. The aim of the amendments is administrative simplification.
The Advisory Board for Eastern and Northern Finland welcomes the fact that the EU is developing and reforming funding models. On the other hand, the Advisory Board does not welcome a development in which the powers of implementation and financing of cohesion policy, as well as political reflection, are increasingly concentrated in the hands of national governments. As a result, regional and local democracy and decision-making are weakened.
There has been widespread concern among European regions about developments that risk jeopardising the principles of regional and structural policy. This is also the case in Eastern and Northern Finland. The objective of cohesion policy is to compensate for regional disparities between Member States and within the European Union. The special conditions in Eastern and Northern Finland, such as long distances, cold climates and sparsely populated areas, must also be taken into account in the future. The sparsely populated population criterion is central to the achievement of cohesion policy in Finland as a whole.
The Advisory Board for Eastern and Northern Finland considers it very important that the funding criterion for northern sparsely populated areas and, consequently, the special status of Eastern and Northern Finland related to the Accession Treaty will be maintained also in the future programme funding period.
The Advisory Board for Eastern and Northern Finland is a cooperative body consisting of South Savo, Kainuu, Central Ostrobothnia, Lapland, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia and North Savo.
Additional information:
Jussi Rämet, Regional Director, Regional Assembly of Oulu Region, tel. +358 40 586 3877
