madam president the report refers to the future of cohesion policy
it was difficult to find pragmatic answers valid for all twenty-seven member states and their different governance and partnership systems
the rapporteur has managed to come up with very concrete proposals
on governance i would like to underline two elements
we need to empower regional and local authorities with a better and more efficient sharing of responsibilities
it is also of the utmost importance to address the lack of expertise and administrative capacity to deal with funds and projects at regional and local level
on partnership the report rightly insists on the centrality of inclusive processes and full ownership
we need to bring in the largest number of stakeholders possible at all policy and implementation stages and in order to do this we need minimum compulsory standards
i am extremely satisfied with the way in which the rapporteur has dealt with all our contributions and concerns and congratulate him once again for his excellent work
