Cohesion policy is one of the European Union's most tangible instruments. Why is it so crucial for local and regional leaders in delivering real benefits to citizens and strengthening their territories?
Cohesion policy is where Europe becomes tangible in people’s daily lives. In Occitanie, the current regional programme represents €829 million: €666 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and €163 million from the European Social Fund + (ESF+). By the end of 2025, it had already supported 676 important projects across our region. These figures translate into concrete realities: support for innovative SMEs, research infrastructure, energy-efficient public buildings, sustainable mobility, training and pathways back into employment. The ERDF helps us transform our economy and territories, and the ESF+ ensures that people have the skills and opportunities to benefit from that transformation. I think this complementarity is essential. We cannot finance artificial intelligence, decarbonisation or new industrial sectors without also investing in training, employment, inclusion and professional transitions. Regional and local authorities know their population, we know where needs are greatest and where investment can have the strongest leverage. The same solutions can not be the same everywhere. This is why, in the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations, I, alongside my European colleagues, voice that cohesion policy must remain place-based and governed through true partnership and a shared governance. It should allow every territory to contribute to Europe’s objectives by building on its own strengths, while ensuring that no citizen or region is left behind.
Occitanie has become a European success story in using cohesion policy to build a world-leading drone and robotics ecosystem, creating high-skilled jobs, attracting investment and helping local companies grow into global businesses. What do you think has been the key to this success, and what lessons can other European regions learn from Occitanie's experience?
Indeed, our drone ecosystem is a great example of what cohesion policy can achieve when Europe and a region invest patiently in a local ecosystem. I often take Delair as an example. The company was founded in Toulouse in 2011, by four engineers. Very soon after, our administration identified their potential and supported them by European cohesion policy through ERDF-funded regional innovation programmes, alongside sustained regional investment. And of course, and their role is crucial so it is important to precise it: a very strong public research ecosystem. This enabled them to develop their technology, industrialise their products and access new markets. Today, Delair is an internationally recognised drone manufacturer. Its technologies serve civil, industrial and security applications, and the company has supplied 150 reconnaissance drones to Ukraine. This journey, from four engineers to a strategic European industrial player; shows that cohesion funding is not assistance, it is productive investment in Europe’s competitiveness and sovereignty. I would like to insist again on the fact that the key was not to finance one company, but creating a whole support system for them to grow. Occitanie connected entrepreneurs with universities, laboratories, investors, training organisations, major aerospace companies and clusters such as Aerospace Valley. Our region invests 3.7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in research and development and brings together 31,000 researchers. All in all, the lesson is simple, regions should be trusted to identify their strategic strengths. Europe must invest in complete ecosystems, from research and skills to industrialisation and scale-up, and provide the stability required to build them over time.
As discussions on the next EU budget continue, what should be the priorities for cohesion policy to ensure that regions and cities remain drivers of innovation, competitiveness and social cohesion?
The first priority must be to reject the false opposition between competitiveness and cohesion. Europe will not become more competitive by concentrating investment in a small number of already successful places. Its strength lies in its ability to mobilise the talent, industrial capacity and innovation potential of every region. The future policy must therefore preserve its fundamental principles: a place-based approach, shared management, partnership, multi-level governance and funding for every category of region. A centralised, one-size-fits-all policy would be less effective and would weaken, in my opinion, citizens' connection to Europe. Also, we need long-term predictability. Research ecosystems, industrial value chains and professional skills cannot be built through short-term calls for projects. Europe must continue supporting innovation, industrial transformation, decarbonisation and strategic autonomy. At the same time, we also must invest in skills, employment, social inclusion and a just transition. Europe must simplify people’s life. We indeed need more proportionate controls, harmonised rules, faster decisions and greater flexibility. Europe should set ambitious common objectives, but trust regions to determine how best to achieve them. Cohesion policy is not a mere redistribution mechanism, it is one of Europe’s most powerful investment policies for turning territorial potential into shared prosperity.