{"id":2050,"date":"2026-10-07T12:35:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2026-10-07T12:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:35:53","slug":"europe-cannot-compete-if-investment-reaches-only-the-strongest-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/europe-cannot-compete-if-investment-reaches-only-the-strongest-regions\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe cannot compete if investment reaches only the strongest regions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Europe will not become stronger by allowing two Europes to emerge. One Europe cannot concentrate investment, innovation and good jobs, while another loses young people, businesses and trust. Competitiveness must strengthen the whole Union, including rural, mountain and peripheral regions in both the East and the West.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was my message today at the conference organised in Galway by the Commission for Economic Policy of the European Committee of the Regions together with local partners. The debate focused on sustainable trade, regional competitiveness and strong local economies. These are European priorities, but they have a direct human meaning. They decide whether young people can find a future at home, whether small firms can grow, and whether communities can remain viable.<\/p>\n

The Right to Stay<\/h2>\n

I presented the Right to Stay as an economic and democratic objective. Mobility must remain a free choice. It should not become an obligation caused by missing jobs, housing, education, services or investment.<\/p>\n

I also warned that if funding repeatedly reaches only the largest companies and strongest regions, territorial gaps will widen. Social frustration may then exceed the capacity of politics to manage it, trust will fall and extreme voices may grow stronger. The responsible answer is not to close Europe or turn regions against one another. It is to make European opportunity more fairly accessible.<\/p>\n

A direct exchange with the European Commission<\/h2>\n

I addressed my question directly to Piotr Rydzkowski, Head of Unit at the European Commission Directorate General for Trade. I asked for the Commission\u2019s help in ensuring that future investment policies also reach rural, mountain and peripheral regions, support local small businesses and connect young people with local jobs.<\/p>\n

In his first response, he explained that the funding environment will become more difficult and competitive. Regions should integrate the Union\u2019s strategic direction into their planning at an early stage. He referred to European supply chains, critical technologies, research, innovation and economic resilience. His practical message was that regions which anticipate these priorities and prepare around them will be better placed to seek access to more limited resources.<\/p>\n

In his second response, he stressed that all regions are part of a broader European ecosystem. Investment alone is not enough. Europe also needs demand for European production, sourcing within the Union and viable European supply chains. He linked this approach to the need to reverse the loss of productive capacity, improve resilience and respond to the dissatisfaction created where good work has disappeared.<\/p>\n

This was valuable policy guidance, not a funding commitment to any individual region. Our responsibility is to turn that direction into credible local partnerships and investment plans.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Young people need a visible pathway<\/h2>\n

Noeleen Hussey, Regional Manager at IDA Ireland, added an essential human dimension. Regions often focus on companies, universities and investment institutions, but may fail to show young people the pathway from where they are today to a good job in a company investing locally.<\/p>\n

A job opportunity is not real if the pathway towards it is invisible. Young people need to know which skills are required, where they can learn them, which employers need them and how they can build a career without leaving home. This requires cooperation between education, training providers, businesses and regional authorities.<\/p>\n

Thomas Schmidt also connected regional development with housing and demographic resilience. Housing pressure cannot be solved only by adding more homes in metropolitan centres. Europe must also create economic reasons for people to remain in, or move to, regions where homes, space and quality of life may be available. This also requires support for existing firms, business succession, skilled trades and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

One European ecosystem<\/h2>\n

The European dimension of this debate is positive and necessary. Stronger European supply chains can create opportunities across borders. Research networks can connect smaller regions with leading institutions. Common standards can open markets. European investment can help local firms become suppliers, adopt technology and create skilled jobs.<\/p>\n

However, the Union must ensure that access is real, not only theoretical. Small firms and administrations in weaker regions face lower capacity, smaller markets and higher structural costs. A formally open funding programme may still remain inaccessible if projects are too large, procedures are too complex or local cofinancing is unrealistic.<\/p>\n

Place based policy offers a better approach. It does not lower European ambition. It uses the different strengths of Europe\u2019s territories and allows regions to contribute according to their assets. It also requires local and regional authorities to become partners in design, not only implementers at the end of the process.<\/p>\n

The work starts now<\/h2>\n

Regions should now update their sectoral visions and prepare practical partnership plans. Local authorities, businesses, universities, vocational education, research organisations and communities should identify shared priorities, potential supply chains, skill needs and projects that can be implemented.<\/p>\n

For Eastern European regions, this preparation is especially urgent. Their voice must be heard while the future funding architecture is being shaped. It is not enough to object after rules have been adopted. Regions must participate early and arrive with credible proposals.<\/p>\n

Europe is strongest when dignity, opportunity and trust are shared. Our common objective should be simple: a young person in a rural or mountain region should have a genuine choice to stay, work, build a family and contribute to Europe from home. That is how competitiveness becomes cohesion, and how the European project becomes visible in everyday life.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Europe will not become stronger by allowing two Europes to emerge. One Europe cannot concentrate investment, innovation and good jobs, while another loses young people, businesses and trust. Competitiveness must strengthen the whole Union, including rural, mountain and peripheral regions in both the East and the West. This was my message today at the conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,1,84],"tags":[89,81,87,88,90],"class_list":["post-2050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cor","category-hirek","category-news","tag-competitiveness","tag-cor","tag-econ","tag-galway","tag-regional-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2052,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions\/2052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}