Speech by Executive Vice-President Fitto at High Level Session “A Cohesion Policy for a Competitive Union”

Competitiveness has moved to the centre of the European debate.

It has become a keyword that we use again and again, but it is not always easy to grasp what it really means.

Many reports in recent years have made the case for action to boost competitiveness.  

That Europe needs to act and act quickly.

Highlighting the need for massive investments in European competitiveness:

Cohesion Policy has been investing in competitiveness this for decades:

Because Europe's economy is not powered by just a few engines, but by many.

This is also what we mean with this year's motto of the European Week of Regions and Cities.

Europe can only be as strong as its regions.

And European competitiveness cannot be achieved by a few regions acting alone.

It must be built across Europe, in every region.

And cohesion policy is a key driver for this.

Cohesion policy is already Europe's main investment policy.

Over 58% of our investments – around 220 billion euros – support the objectives of the Competitiveness Compass.

In other words, these investments build more competitive regions and in turn a more competitive Union.

And this is important because competitiveness is not only about what happens in Europe's leading centres.

Europe needs world-leading hubs in AI, biotech, quantum and other strategic technologies.

But we also need the capacity to develop and use these technologies across Europe.

We need these capabilities in all parts of Europe, supported by strong connections, the right skills and value chains in every region.

The benefits and opportunities of technology must be felt everywhere.

And this is not only about technology. It is also about the conditions that allow businesses to invest and people to build their lives.

In the face of industrial and technological transformation, we need to: