Cohesion Policy and Talent: Strong allies to build regions with a sustainable and inclusive future

This report aims to recollect and put together the main ideas, inputs and information shared by the speakers and participants in the political workshop.

Political Representatives present in the room among the audience:

• Vice President of the Lodzkie Region (Poland), Ms Agnieszka Ryś, and three members of its Regional Council: Monika Malinowska-Olszowy, Maciej Sulgan, and Konrad Zyberyng.
• Ms Alessia Rosolen, Regional Minister for work, training, education, university, research, and family from Friuli Venezia Guilia, Italy
• Mauro Bordin, President of the Regional Council from Friuli Venezia Guilia (Italy), accompanied by Francesco Russo (Vicepresident of the Regional Council) and four regional Councillors: Giulia Massolino, Diego Bernardis, Markus Maurmair, and Andrea Cabibbo.
• Jesús Ángel Garrido Martínez, Director-General for Funds and Relations with the European Union of the Government of La Rioja, Spain.
• Silvia Negro, Deputy Director General for European and International Relations of the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Spain.

In addition, we had the chance to have the participation by recording video of the President of the Slovak region of Trnava (SK), Jozef Viskupic (alternate CoR member), who opened the event and pointed out that the regions are in the first line of action in the face of the challenges imposed by the current demographic trends that we are living in the EU. Likewise, a video of the Polish Association “Now we” was presented and its president Magdalena Wollman, present in the room, presented the association and its work on the ground. One of their main objectives is to support the associations of housewives in rural areas and this year they have created the first network of associations. They are currently facing new demographic challenges that affect many areas of their daily lives, so listening to their voices and points of view is important when implementing any measure in the territory.

The main ideas put forward by the speakers and moderator of the panel were as follows:

- Ron Korver (European Commission, member of cabinet Vicepresident Suica): Two key ideas were put forward by the European Commission: First, the importance of knowing what regions facing these demographic challenges are doing on the ground and learning from those initiatives that deliver results; Second, it takes more than just a politician with a good idea to succeed: it is also necessary to involve and mobilise all relevant actors at local and regional level, such as universities, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, representatives of civil society, etc., success depends to a large extent on the power of the region to self-organise. In his speech, he referred to the initiatives launched by the European Commission such as the Talent Potential Mechanism and the Demography Toolbox, with particular reference to their territorial dimension. Global events such as the Covid pandemic or the war in Ukraine have accelerated demographic challenges and widened disparities in the EU. Cohesion policy plays a key role in this context, ensuring balanced development between rural and urban areas, in order to avoid what has been called the “discontent gap”. Another key element of cohesion policy is interregional cooperation, which encourages regions to collaborate and work together, sharing innovative solutions to demographic and talent challenges. He recalled that the mid-term review of cohesion policy will take place in 2025, and this will be the occasion to see what works and what does not and to draw lessons to rethink its design for the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
- Rosa Cuesta Cofreces (General Director for Economic Policy and Competitiveness): He began his speech by pointing out the strong link between cohesion and talent. In Castilla y León they have been working intensively for years on all demographic challenges, linking economic activity to the rural environment. Talent is a key factor in the economic and social development of a territory and currently its connection to the business fabric is a critical factor of competitiveness. He explained the experience of Castilla y León, where a Talent Strategy 2031 has been developed as a factor of competitiveness and business transformation, through a participatory process, as a public-private collaboration. In addition, under the umbrella of the Strategy, a set of actions and measures to be undertaken in the period 2024-2027 by the Government of the Community of Castilla y León have been defined, giving rise to the Comprehensive Talent Action Plan of the Junta de Castilla y León (2024-2027).For Castilla y León, talent development is a priority, since it will facilitate successfully addressing the changes and transitions that are underway at a global level. In the EU as a whole, we share similar challenges, as we are lagging behind in economic dynamism compared to other large world economies, in addition to the fact that we are in the process of undergoing very important demographic changes, among which are the ageing of the population or its concentration in urban centres, to the detriment of rural or dispersed areas. Historically, the demographic challenge has been addressed more from the population side than from the talent side. However, Castilla y León is a region that generates talent, with very positive data in industrial, educational and innovation matters, with a high quality of life and that exports talent to other places, perhaps due to the ignorance of young people of the opportunities that this territory offers. In his speech he also stressed the enormous importance that cohesion policy has in the development of these policies aimed at the retention and attraction of talent, stressing that it is essential that in the next multiannual financial framework this cohesion policy is maintained as one of the main policies of the EU.
- Sara Simón Alcorlo (Regional Minister for Equality): Castilla-La Mancha is an eminently rural region formed by 919 municipalities, whose future depends on the employment opportunities and life project that its inhabitants, and especially women, have. To reverse a situation of inequality of rights and opportunities in the rural environment, Castilla-La Mancha promotes a whole series of public policies that contribute to improving and facilitating the life and permanence of the population in the municipalities of the region, and in particular of women, who are key in the development and growth of rural areas. These measures and initiatives include: 1. The Network of 87 Women's Centres, funded in part through the European Social Fund; the promotion of reconciliation and co-responsibility policies through the Co-responsible Plan; the adoption of Law 6/2019 on the status of rural women; encouraging generational renewal in agricultural and livestock activities; prioritising the ownership and shared ownership of women in access to agricultural aid calls; positive action measures incorporated into active employment policies to encourage women to enter the labour market; increasing the amounts of support when women victims of gender-based violence, women in management positions or women in technology sectors and/or in activities related to the green or digital economy are recruited indefinitely. All these measures have their shield in Law 2/2021, of 7 May, on Economic, Social and Fiscal Measures against Depopulation and for the Development of the Rural Environment of Castilla-La Mancha. At the same time, efforts are being made to ensure that all public policies incorporate depopulation criteria across the board.
- Stephano Zannier (Regional Minister for Agri-food, Forestry and Fishery ressources): his intervention focused on sharing the initiative implemented in his region, SNAI (Strategia Nazionale per le Aree Interne), which was launched at the beginning of the 2014-2020 programming period as an innovative national policy to combat marginalisation and create new opportunities for the development and revitalization of mountain territories and for the improvement of the living conditions of their local communities. It is an ambitious project that has launched a new form of multilevel governance aimed at addressing demographic challenges and responding to the needs of territories characterised by significant disadvantages in terms of location or demographics. The objective is to achieve significant results by adopting an integrated approach aimed at the promotion and development of local areas. The strategy is based on two types of operations: local development and the improvement of services, which are the cornerstones of the implementation of the strategy. In terms of funding, local development projects are financed with funds from European Community programmes (ERDF ESF+ and EAFRD), while the part dedicated to the improvement of services was financed in the 2014-2020 programming period with funds from the Italian Stability Law. The analysis that led to the identification of the relevant areas was carried out following a coordinated preliminary process involving three Government Authorities (the State, the Region and the local level) taking into account various factors such as: demographic and economic trends, geographical location (measured in terms of distance to essential services such as education, health and transport, availability of significant environmental and cultural resources and planning potential
- Marc de Bournisien de Valmont (Policy Analyst at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities): in his participation, he highlighted the commitment of the participating regions to work to address the demographic and talent challenges that their regions are experiencing; stated that these are cross-cutting issues that affect all policies, so cohesion policy is a key instrument to address them, in synergy with the other instruments available to local and regional authorities. Current demographic trends, coupled with difficulties in retaining and/or attracting talent in some European regions, increase the risk of widening disparities between regions. The demographic challenge is also a democratic challenge and must be addressed from the perspective of the need to integrate all territories in the construction of a united Europe with a joint future. He finished by indicating the work that the OECD does in the field of demography, and in particular he pointed out the project that he himself coordinates, Shrinking Smartly and Sustainably.

The Joint Position Paper on the Future of Cohesion Policy post-2027, prepared by the Demographic Change Regions Network (DCRN) currently coordinated by the Permanent Delegation of the Junta de Castilla y León in Brussels, was officially presented at the event. This document sets out several facts reflecting the situation, together with a number of needs and requests identified at regional level.