During the European Parliament session in Strasbourg, a discussion was held on “the important role of cities and regions in the EU’s environmental and social development at the local level.” PiS MEP Waldemar Buda spoke during the debate.
Waldemar Buda said: “No one doubts that regions and cities are a very important element—the strength of the European Union and the strength of individual regions. They are the ones that absorb funds, spend them, and know local issues best.” He pointed out that the principle of subsidiarity—which holds that the smallest matters should be handled at the level closest to the people—remains as relevant as ever.
“We hear about reforms to cohesion policy and the elimination or scaling back of regional programs,” he said, referring to the less-than-optimistic messages coming from the European Commission. He stated that these messages are very troubling and, in this context, recalled that “when there was a desire to use strong, powerful regions to limit the influence of individual governments in Europe, this was exploited.”
“Under the guise of reforming cohesion policy, you want to cut the funds that formally and ultimately flowed to these regions. We certainly will not allow that,” the Polish politician commented.
