Democracy and the European project “face immense dangers”, says the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira (Porto, 1955), in an interview with La Vanguardia in which she claims a strong cohesion policy and warns that, without an increase in the budget – now, 1% of the European GDP –, the EU “will not have the necessary unity to be able to face the new challenges”.
How do you see the political climate?
There is a very violent public discourse that touches many people who do not have emotional stability, especially after the pandemic. This does not happen by chance. There is an aggressive international agenda that is trying to destroy Europe not only from the outside but also from the inside, through social media and the irresponsible press. The European project cannot survive if we are not in a position to defend our values ??and put limits on what is legitimate to do or say.
In what sense?
We want an independent and responsible press, but at the same time we must limit strategic disinformation, narratives or fake news that stimulate the most vulnerable in society and inspire a fear that makes people vote for parties that have nothing to offer. We live in a very difficult time in which there are people who have a feeling of not belonging, of feeling forgotten and disconnected from the current dynamics.
Have they detected a relationship between extremist voting and lack of economic development?
It is one of the conclusions of the 9th report on the decohesion policy. Various university researches have found a relationship between certain economic situations and this vote. The traditional correlation was people who are unemployed or in precarious employment, but there are also people in regions that have been stagnant for fifteen or twenty years and are losing their dynamism. So it is something that can take place at the lowest level of economic development, but also at a high or intermediate level in case of stagnation. I think it is very important to be aware that, when there are no prospects, there are fears. The poorest may lose hope of improvement. The rich, to lose what they have. That is why in the future cohesion policy must cover all situations, reach the rich and the poor, maintaining basic principles such as giving proportionally stronger support for those who cannot help themselves and with more sophisticated financial instruments for regions with a high level of development but with difficulties in maintaining their competitiveness on an international scale.
Where is cohesion policy headed? They talk about innovating and tying payments to reforms, are we heading for a revolution?
No, but this will be decided by the next Commission, with the Parliament and the Council. Now is the time to make decisions, because there are issues that have become very important on the European agenda, such as defence, the climate, health and ageing, and there is also enlargement. None of this will work without strengthening cohesion policy, which is what holds Europe together.
What can be changed or improved and what should not be touched?
Flexibility should not be changed because a regional approach is needed. Nor the principle of proportionality (the poorest must receive more) nor the shared management of projects between central, regional and local levels. Where it can be improved is in the simplification of bureaucratic procedures, it is something we are already doing. Also the quality of public administration. And you can talk about reforms, but regional policy is a territorial policy. It can be interesting to associate the use of funds with reforms, but we need to see what we are talking about, because the most typical correspond to the central scale. There are some things that could be incorporated, but we are not talking about revolutions.
The EU has opened its doors to Ukraine, but is not talking about the cost. Are there those who will receive less?
Not necessarily. I don’t think we can continue with a common budget of 1%. We implicitly recognized this during the pandemic with two decisions: the reprogramming of 23 billion euros of funds (4,000 for Spain) to buy vaccines and to pay salaries, and to issue shared debt to launch the Recovery and Resilience Fund . I don’t think we can face the period that is now opening before the EU without reviewing the size of the budget, no matter how divisive the topic is.
