WARSAW, Poland (May 21, 2025) — Ministers from European Union member states have signed a joint declaration in Warsaw reaffirming their commitment to cohesion policy as a central pillar of the EU’s future development strategy.
At an informal meeting hosted by Poland’s Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, EU ministers responsible for cohesion, territorial cohesion, and urban policy stressed the need to maintain a territorial approach in post-2027 EU policies.
“We have adopted a declaration of all EU member states, which – from the Polish perspective – highlights three important points,” said Pełczyńska-Nałęcz. “First, there is no EU development policy without a cohesion policy, understood as something built with the active participation of individual regions.”
The declaration, a non-binding policy position, calls for strengthening the territorial dimension in EU planning and funding mechanisms. It also highlights housing policy and support for regions bordering Russia and Belarus as emerging priorities.
“A housing policy focused on providing affordable homes has now become a challenge across the entire Union,” Pełczyńska-Nałęcz added. “And regions that border Russia and Belarus require special attention from the whole EU and need development support.”
The meeting, held alongside the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee session, was attended by EU member states, EFTA representatives, and senior officials from EU institutions including the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee.
The declaration emphasizes:
Cohesion objectives must remain integral to EU policy architecture beyond 2027;
The need for a shared European territorial development vision;
Wider use of Territorial Impact Assessments (TIAs) to better tailor EU policy to spatial realities;
Recognition of urban policy and affordable housing as EU-wide territorial and social priorities.
Keynote speaker Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose addressed the possible territorial impacts of new EU priorities—particularly competitiveness and defense—warning they could deepen public dissatisfaction if not managed with inclusive development policies.
The joint declaration is expected to inform negotiations over the EU’s next long-term budget and cohesion policy reform, with signatories urging a performance-based, decentralized, and partnership-driven approach.
“This meeting united ministers across cohesion, territorial, and urban domains,” said one EU delegate. “That alone signals how important place-based policy will be in Europe’s future.”
