Sign now: stop the centralisation of EU funds!

Sign the petition to the EU Commission!

The European Commission is planning to centralise EU funding. Instead of reaching directly the different European regions, the funds would be allocated to the 27 member states that would redistribute them internally. In EFA, we are worried about the devastating consequences that renationalisation of the funding would have for regions and for European cohesion.

As an elected representative of an EFA member party you can take action! Join your fellow colleagues from all around Europe and make your voice heard in front of the European Commission!

Sign now to join us in our struggle for fair regional funding in the EU!

Stop the centralisation of EU funds!

From: EFA Local and Regional Councillors
To: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; 
Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission 
responsible for Cohesion and Reforms

Dear President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,
Dear Executive Vice-President of the Commission responsible for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto,

We, local and regional elected representatives from across Europe, wish to express our deep concern regarding the proposed renationalisation of European funds under the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). We believe that this approach risks widening existing economic, social and territorial disparities between peripheral regions and Europe’s already wealthier capital cities.

In particular, we are alarmed by the proposed consolidation of multiple EU policies into a single national plan per Member State. Such an approach would, in practice, undermine the principle of multi-level governance, which has been a cornerstone of European cohesion policy and territorial development for decades.

As elected representatives affiliated with the European Free Alliance (EFA)—a European political party committed to regional empowerment, multi-level governance, and the right to self-determination—we therefore call on the European Commission to:

1. Withdraw the proposal to recentralise EU programmes into a single National Plan per Member State, which would de facto concentrate decision-making power in national capitals and weaken regional and local autonomy in the allocation of EU funds.
2. Respect and safeguard the essential role of local and regional authorities in the design, management, and implementation of the EU budgetary framework, particularly within Cohesion Policy.
3. Guarantee robust democratic oversight by the European Parliament and ensure full transparency in the methodology used for the allocation of EU funds.

The future of the European project depends on balanced territorial development, democratic participation, and trust between all levels of governance. We therefore urge the Commission to uphold these principles in the forthcoming MFF.