The next European budget will be the decisive test of whether the European Union can translate the central role of its territories into concrete choices, ECR Group President Marco Marsilio told the opening session of the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels.
Speaking at the high-level opening of EURegionsWeek, alongside European Commission Executive Vice-President of European Commission Raffaele Fitto and the President of the Council Antonio Costa, the President of the Abruzzo Region stressed that cohesion policy is not merely a budget line or a secondary policy, but a fundamental political choice. It is the instrument through which Europe makes its territories more competitive, keeps communities together and turns the right to stay into a reality.
“For us Conservatives, every citizen must be free to leave to study or work, but no one should be forced to abandon their home because of a lack of jobs, education or adequate connections,” Marsilio said. “Leaving must be a choice, not a necessity; staying a right, not a privilege.”
He argued that making this freedom concrete requires infrastructure, services and strong local communities. Cohesion policy reduces the distances between territories, creates opportunities where they are lacking and allows people to build their future in the place they call home. “Without cohesion, the right to stay remains a slogan; with a strong cohesion policy, it becomes a concrete freedom,” he said, thanking European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto for placing the right to stay at the centre of the European political agenda.
Looking ahead to the negotiations on the next long-term EU budget, Marsilio welcomed the “Friends of Cohesion” initiative promoted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and supported by 17 countries. Its message, he said, is clear: agriculture and cohesion must remain central priorities, and new European priorities cannot be financed by weakening the traditional policies that hold Europe together.
“Cohesion is not a cost for Europe: it is the condition for making Europe more competitive,” Marsilio concluded. “Europe is not built by weakening its territories, but by strengthening them: thriving territories make strong nations, and strong nations build a stronger Europe, master of its own future.”