During a meeting at the European Commission’s headquarters with the Vice-President of the European Commission for Cohesion and Reform, Commissioner Rafael Fitto, Marshal of the Lubelskie Voivodeship Jarosław Stawiarski strongly emphasised the importance of cohesion policy as one of the key tools supporting the socio-economic development of the regions.
Cohesion policy is a key tool for supporting the sustainable development of regions. The Marshal of the Lubelskie Voivodeship appealed for the European Commission to prompt complete the process of closing the Regional Operational Programme for the Lubelskie Voivodeship 2014–2020, for the swift approval of changes to the European Funds for Lubelskie 2021–2027 programme as part of the mid-term review, and also pointed out the need for a more flexible approach to the reallocation of funds – by lowering the current threshold from 15% to 5% – and the need to maintain the grant form of support instead of expanding financial instruments and conditional grants.
The Marshal also strongly emphasises how important it is to maintain the decentralisation of funds in the future financial perspective to preserve the regional nature of managing EU funds.
A key point of discussion was the Via Carpatia, an international transport corridor, the development of which is important not only for Poland but also for the entire Central and Eastern Europe region.
Marshal Stawiarski referred to the long-standing involvement of the Lubelskie Voivodeship in the development of this route and the active role of the region in the Network of the Three Seas Regions, which is a platform for cooperation between local governments from Central and Eastern Europe. The importance of continuing joint activities, especially with the Slovak and Polish sides, for the construction of the missing sections of the route, particularly in the Prešov region and the southern part of the Lubelskie Voivodeship, was emphasised.
Via Carpatia has been entered into the TEN-T network and today serves not only a transport function, but also a strategic one – as a corridor for transit, economic development and support for countries neighbouring the European Union, including Ukraine. Other participants in the talks included the Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Władysław Ortyl, and representatives of the Slovakian Prešov Region.