Regions and cities have a role in the current political context, and can further strengthen their contribution to the implementation and development of European policies on the ground.

Regions and cities can build on an impressive record of tangible achievements in 2014-2019. Staying true to its roots, cohesion policy has continued to ensure that no region and nobody is left behind, but ready to take the opportunities of being part to the World's largest internal market. Supporting economic, social and territorial cohesion in all EU regions. Empowering them through over 120 smart specialisation strategies, which are helping them to identify their competitive advantages and find new growth opportunities, in many cases by boosting industrial transition. Joining forces with the Juncker Investment Plan to accompany SMEs on their way towards a carbon-free economy. Facilitating integration of migrants. Not to mention the tremendous support from the EU Solidarity Fund to regions hit by natural disasters, or the continued efforts to overcome obstacles to cross-border life and work. But this is not all: EU regions and cities have also become essential actors of the simplification of cohesion policy, especially in the context of the works of the High-level Group of Simplification for Beneficiaries or the various partnerships of the Urban Agenda for the EU.

Regions and Cities can capitalise on this exceptional ground to demonstrate why cohesion policy must continue to be a pillar of the EU's future, as called for by the #CohesionAlliance. While the Commission proposals for 2021-2027 set the ambitions of our continent for the next decade, Regions and Cities already share the best way to translate these ambitions into concrete projects and ideas, and then into the achievements that are the landmarks of this policy.

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