Summit of European Regions and Cities in Marseille overshadowed by war in Ukraine

During the 9th European Summit of Cities and Regions in Marseille, local and regional leaders from across Europe were united in their support for Ukraine which is bravely defending itself against the aggression of the Russian Federation. The ECR Group supported the CoR's declaration of solidarity with Ukraine adopted at the Summit, but our president expressed his disappointment over the fact that the document falls short of supporting Ukraine's bid for EU membership.

The Summit's Declaration on Ukraine calls on the EU to fully support Ukrainian refugees. The declaration strongly condemns the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and calls on the EU to urgently grant Ukrainian citizens leaving the country refugee status under EU Asylum Law. Although it does mention offering Ukraine "a European perspective", the wording is less ambitious with regard to supporting Ukraine's EU membership bid than was the European Parliament resolution adopted on 1 March.

The war in Ukraine dominated debate, but the two-day Summit held wide-ranging discussions on the future of Europe, post-pandemic recovery and cohesion, which were all key elements of the Manifesto adopted at the end of the Summit. The Marseille Manifesto contains proposals to strengthen the EU's democratic legitimacy, including calling for its regions, cities and municipalities to be gradually upgraded - through the European Committee of the Regions - beyond the current consultative function towards a more binding role in a limited number of policy areas with a clear territorial dimension while avoiding additional complexity in the EU.

The ECR Group supported most of the provisions included in the manifesto, but expressed strong reservations over its call for local and regional authorities to be granted direct access to EU funding. While the ECR Group advocates greater localism and streamlined access to EU funding, our members believe that each country should organise its own system for applying for EU funds in a way that best suits its needs and capabilities. Entirely bypassing central governments would have very negative effects on internal cohesion in each country.