'Road to Recovery' Lisbon 27 January

"As EPP regional and local politicians, we are responsible and committed to ensure all levels of government work together on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). This is the only possible way for citizens not to miss out on EU opportunities." Olgierd Geblewicz, President of West Pomerania Region and President of the EPP-CoR Group made these remarks when addressing the conference 'Road to Recovery' organized by the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions (EPP-CoR) and the EPP Group in the European Parliament (EPP-EP) in Lisbon.

Speaking on the positive impact this will have, Geblewicz explained how his region had made use of NextGenerationUE funds under ReactEU to strengthen the resilience of the regional health system, by building an infectious diseases ward in the largest regional hospital as well as to invest further in the energy sector to reduce dependence on fossils fuels.

Siegfried Mureșan MEP, Vice-Chair of the EPP-EP Group and Chairman of the Working Group for Budget and Structural Policies said "The voice of mayors and regions must be heard. We are talking about the RRF and our mayors are the ones who know best where this money is needed and how to be used in the best possible way."

Speaking on the importance of engaging Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) in the implementation process, Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon and former EU Commissioner said "Making politics in a different way means listening to the people. In Lisbon we created the citizens’ assembly in order for people to be able to work with the city in finding solutions and make it happen. Cities are the translators of EU policies for citizens. We are the ones who transform EU policies into tangible actions on the ground."