The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear: local and regional governments are playing a crucial role in implementing and monitoring the necessary measures to tackle the crisis. With revenue sources in steep decline and expenses skyrocketing, municipalities and regions need to be specifically targeted under the European Union’s proposed recovery plan.
 
More than ever, the EU needs a robust budget, both for the immediate recovery and to invest in future generations. This has been clearly voiced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and is backed up by the joint proposal of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to provide a €500 billion recovery fund to modernise the European economy.
 
The European institutions and national governments must closely involve municipalities, regions and their representative associations in the implementation of the recovery fund.  As the OECD states in its recent study on the territorial impact of COVID-19, coordination mechanisms and shared responsibilities across all levels of government are essential to ensuring a coherent and effective response.
 
What’s more, the recovery fund will be linked to the Commission’s recommendations to member states issued as part of the European Semester. Given that 60% of these recommendations have a local or regional impact, it is essential to take into account local and regional governments’ role in the recovery. This is all the more necessary insofar as the fund aims to support those regions and sectors that have suffered most.

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