The 14th episode of the Beyond Borders: Breakfast Debate Series, organized by the Border Focal Point Network, held on November 9th 2023, focused on the future of EU border regions within the post-2027 Cohesion Policy. The discussion featured a panel of esteemed professionals aiming to shape future policy through insightful discourse.

Acknowledging the commencement of a new implementation period, the debate emphasized the need to initiate discussions that align future Cohesion Policy with the evolving landscape of cross-border cooperation and the needs of border regions.

Slawomir Tokarski from DG REGIO set the stage by highlighting ongoing discussions on the future of Interreg and Cohesion policy in the post 2027 era, and emphasized citizen participation in policy formulation. He underlined enlargement and the single market as pivotal aspects to be taken into consideration, stressing the necessity for establishing future milestones in all areas of cohesion policy.

The conversation then continued, under the guidance of moderator Mr. Andrew Lansley, who initiated polls to gauge participant views on priority areas for post-2027 cohesion policy regarding border regions.

Professor Eduardo Medeiros, Geography Professor & Research Fellow at Setúbal Polytechnic Institute, and author of the report on the future of cohesion policy: “Reinforcing territorial cooperation and addressing challenges on European integration”, stressed the significancce of cross-border cooperation in mitigating barriers and fostering territorial development. He outlined three primary barriers: legal & administrative, cultural & language, and cross-border accessibility & transport—and advocated for increased fund allocation for Interreg projects. Medeiros also proposed bottom-up policy planning and participatory decision-making to enhance strategic planning.

Kitti Dubniczki, Director at Central European Service for Cross Border Initiatives (CESCI), highlighted the need for a tailored approach in the post-2027 era, emphasizing a shift from sectoral to territorial strategies for border regions. Integrated development, effective cross-border governance, and access to reliable territorial data were underscored as crucial elements for overcoming obstacles faced by border citizens, followed by the specifics of what led her to prioritize each of these elements.

It was then Simona Pohlova, Deputy Head of Unit for Interreg, Cross-border Cooperation, Internal Borders (Unit D.2. DG Regio), who expanded on the role of Cohesion Policy in supporting cross-border cooperation, referencing discussions from the Interreg annual event held in October 2023. She emphasized the persistence of challenges even in highly integrated cross-border areas and called for enhanced territorial cooperation supported by funding and strategic tools, enabling smoother movement of people, goods, and energy across borders.

The last speaker of the 14th episode of the Breakfast Debate, Sari Rautio, entrepreneur and member of the COTER commision, highlighted the significance of people-to-people cooperation in overcoming border obstacles. Miss Rautio emphasized the need for comprehensive reform to address cohesion policy's role and identity, seeking a balance between flexibility and embedding synergies between cohesion policy and other EU instruments. Involving border communities in decision-making was stressed as pivotal for identifying effective strategies, as people-to-people cooperation was claimed to be what develops a better territorial cooperation.

The Debate featured questions from the very active participants targeted towards all of the speakers, who were very happy to address them. The conversation continues on the Have your Say tab in Futurium, where the expert panellists expressed their takes on the debate’s poll questions. 

Click here to watch the Replay of this truly high-level debate!