At the end of the Cyprus Presidency we published a critical overview of the MFF negotiations. We offer below an update by Serafin Pazos-Vidal on the state and prospects of the negotiations after the summer recess, followed by Serafin’s original overview. At this stage of the MFF negotiations, MEPs are about to start voting their […]
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Strong villages and towns: understanding the determinants of population change in EU settlements
This JRC Working Paper, Strong villages and towns: understanding the determinants of population change in EU settlements, is authored by Mert Kompil, Paola Proietti, Chiara Dorati, Chris Jacobs-Crisoni, and Lewis Dijkstra. The study examines the drivers of population change in EU settlements, focusing on villages and towns, and analyses the influence of local characteristics and […]
Policy brief: Why Europe’s future depends on its places and territories
A new ‘Territorial Thinkers’ briefing (August 2026), Why Europe’s future depends on its places and territories reflects on main messages put forward by the authors over the past 10 years and adapts them to the current situation. The authors – Peter Mehlbye, Peter Schön, Derek Martin and Kai Böhme – summarise their key observations and […]
Cohesion Policy Capacity Index (CPCI)
What makes EU funding work effectively on the ground? Strong programmes need more than funding: they also depend on the capacity of the authorities managing them. The new Cohesion Policy Capacity Index (CPCI) provides a data-driven framework to assess and compare the administrative capacity of Managing Authorities across the EU. It looks at several dimensions […]
European Local Government Report 2025
The European Local Government Report 2025 provides a comprehensive assessment of local government systems across EU member states. It examines structural data, financial trends, expenditure patterns, revenue sources, and functional responsibilities of municipalities. The report was authored by Thomas Prorok and Sofia Calzola and was published by KDZ – Centre for Public Administration Research. The report […]
Summer Academy: Sustainable Rural Development of Protected Areas – 16-20 September 2026
The 23rd Summer Academy of the Euracademy Association will take place from 16 to 20 September 2026 in Anogeia, Crete, Greece. This year’s topic is Protected Areas: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Rural Development: How protected areas can contribute to sustainable rural development while addressing key challenges related to European and national policy, governance, local […]
Policy brief: Europe closer to Citizens – Community-led Local Development
This Policy Brief, from the Policy Learning Platform for a Europe closer to Citizens, was published by Interreg Europe in May 2026, authored by James Ling and Astrid Severin. As a territorial tool to implement PO5 (Europe closer to Citizens) funds, CLLD can be applied to a wide range of policy areas such as urban […]
Policy briefs: Urban Interest Representation in the EU & Local and Regional governments representation in the EP
Two policy briefs were published in May 2026 on the EU-level advocacy of cities, authored by Dr Balázs Brucker, Research Fellow at ELTE CERS Institute for Regional Studies, Pécs (HU). The executive summaries of the briefs are presented below with links to the full documents. Urban Interest Representation in the EU: Opportunities, Channels, and Constraints – […]
Future EU budget: regions and cities set out their key requests to reform Cohesion Policy
“Moreover, a minimum target of 20% of cohesion policy,rural areas and fisheries allocations must be spent for integrated territorial development strategies such as integrated territorial investments, community-led local development, LEADER or other territorial tools designed by Member States, in urban or rural areas, as a guarantee of a genuinely place-based approach that empowers local communities and stakeholders”. The […]
Making the Right to Stay work for local communities
A webinar on ‘Right to Stay – Understanding the drivers of territorial cohesion’ took place on 4 June 2026 with some 160 participants – see HERE and below. . Following this event AEIDL published a discussion paper on ‘Making the Right to Stay work for local communities’ authored by Serafín Pazos-Vidal and Janne Sinerma as a […]
Rural development: a call for a broader territorial cohesion agenda
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an opinion on the Future of Rural Development after 2027 during a plenary session of on 6 May 2026. Led by rapporteur Radim Sršeň (CZ/EPP), mayor of Dolní Studénky, the opinion calls for rural development to be fully recognised as a core objective of Cohesion Policy, supported by dedicated funding […]
Flexibility and Simplification in Cohesion Policy under the 2028-2034 MFF Proposals
This study for the REGI Committee of European Parliament assesses the main implications of the European Commission’s 2028-2034 proposals for the future design and implementation of Cohesion Policy, from the perspective of the European Parliament. It examines the likely effects of the proposed new framework on simplification, flexibility, territorial and thematic concentrations, and Interreg, while […]