Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. When we think about the future, we have to bear in mind that cohesion policy is crucial. It is extremely important to keep our regions lovable, liveable, to strengthen them, because European regions are, as we know, the foundation of our society. These are the places where the families found themselves, where they live, where they work and also realize their dreams. Of course, this only works if we develop our regions further, if we prevent young people in particular from leaving these regions and then nothing remains because the infrastructure is too weak, because there are no economic agents, because the prospects for the future disappear. This means: We need to make sufficient financial resources available so that we can invest specifically in education, in cutting red tape, in infrastructure and in the economy. It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that regions receive the attention and support they deserve. We can only achieve the main objectives of the territorial context together. That is why I ask you and strongly urge you to take part today, to actively support cohesion policy and to give it the importance it deserves.