EU Funds

Cohesion policy fights poverty and depopulation but has fewer and fewer resources

by Paolo Riva

7 May 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The talk of cohesion is back in Brussels. But on the new initiatives launched by the European Commission hovers the ghost of the EU budget 2028-2034 under discussion in recent months.

The first initiative concerns social cohesion. "Poverty and exclusion are challenges that we can and must overcome," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commenting on the first European anti-poverty strategy. The goal is challenging and twofold: to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030, and to contribute to the eradication of poverty by 2050.

"Europe and the world in recent years have been hit by numerous crises and this has had an impact on different categories of people, for whom conditions have changed and costs have risen," Roxana Mînzatu, the European Commission's executive vice-president in charge of the strategy, told Ansa. "Today," she added, "there are 93 million Europeans at risk of poverty and social exclusion and the figure may grow.

To prevent this from happening and, indeed, to go in the opposite direction, the Commission has presented a policy document (the actual strategy), accompanied by two communications and a proposal for an EU Council recommendation, to be endorsed by the Member States. The latter concerns the fight against housing exclusion, while the first two address the rights of persons with disabilities and child poverty, to strengthen the 2021 Child Guarantee.

The Commission's second initiative touches on territorial cohesion and was presented by Vice-President Raffaele Fitto to the European Parliament. It is the launch of the public consultation for the strategy on the "right to remain", expected by the end of the year.

"Europeans have the freedom to move across borders and this is one of the great achievements of the single market, and it must remain so. Freedom to move, however, also means freedom to stay, a right to remain. And today, for many Europeans, this right is not fully guaranteed,' Fitto said, referring to the shortage of jobs, services and opportunities that affects many areas of the EU. According to data presented by the Commission, more than a quarter of EU citizens live in areas where income levels are below 75 per cent of the continental average.

The public consultation will remain open until 5 June and, alongside this strategy, Fitto announced that the Commission is also working on two other documents for the outermost regions and the islands.

The future of all these initiatives, however, will very much depend on the choices the EU will make on the next budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034. Negotiations are ongoing.

The Commission's proposal significantly cut the funds for cohesion policy and, even more, for social investments, which are key expenditure chapters both for the fight against poverty and for less developed regions. The European Parliament voted on its position at the end of April and demanded a significant increase, but now the negotiations are all internal to the EU Council. It will be up to the 27 Member States sitting within it to come to an agreement and then the Parliament can only accept or reject the agreement reached.