Cohesion policy aims “at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions” and states that “particular attention shall be paid to (…) mountain regions” according to article 174 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU).
Yet, between the earmarking for Priority Objectives 1 and 2 and the targeting for urban areas, it is sometimes complicated for Managing Authorities to see how they can pay specific attention to mountain areas. In particular, the Expert analysis on geographical specificities: Mountains, Islands and Sparsely Populated Areas (2018) has shown that there is a gap between programming and implementation – and mountain specificities are too often lost in between.
To support Managing Authorities in targeting mountain territories’ needs in the next programming period, Euromontana published a factsheet providing guidance to Managing Authorities. This document aims at facilitating the work of Managing Authorities in all mountainous countries by giving recommendations on all steps of the design and implementation of Operational Programmes from the ex-ante evaluation to the monitoring of their implementation and the ex-post evaluation. The factsheet also provides examples of specific tools available for the development of mountain areas, such as the CLLD instrument, as well as advices to better coordinate the different existing EU funds.
At a time when Managing Authorities are starting their consultations to draft their future Operational Programmes, Euromontana invites all of them to pay a better attention to mountain areas and to rethink how they are currently addressing the needs of these specific territories.
27 November 2019
