Debate contributions by Iuliu WINKLER

Dear Madam President, You must be madam. I fully support the objectives of the European Citizens' Initiative "Cohesion Policy for the Equality of the Regions" and I ask you, dear Colleagues, to do likewise. The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) was created by the Treaty of Lisbon to help bring people closer to the European Union. In today's era of hybrid warfare and disinformation, there is a real need for this. We also need to bring national minorities closer to the EU by means tailored to them, including indigenous minorities whose members live in national regions. For this reason, I join the initiators of the citizens' initiative in asking the European Commission to launch a legislative process and seek solutions within the EU's competences. As cohesion policy aims to reduce disparities between regions, it aims to reduce inequalities. Therefore, a possible solution is to extend Interreg programmes, in particular cross-border and interregional cooperation programmes, to support local communities in national regions. The fundamental principle of cohesion policy is that no one should be left behind, and this applies not only to social groups, but also to regions with a specific historical heritage and therefore also to national regions. I trust that the European Commission will respond meaningfully to the proposals of the launchers of the citizens' initiative and, by launching a legislative process, will respond to the expectations of people who have signed up to the initiative entitled 'Cohesion policy, equality of regions and sustainability of regional cultures'.