WFEO 30th anniversary

Celebrations next door to the EU summit

In the afternoon, when we arrived at our venue for the ACE event, we found that security was quite tight. This was due to a summit on EU Member States' support for Ukraine, almost next door to our event.

The main event - the celebration seminar - started at 16.00, with opening speeches by Mikko Savola, congressman and Henna Virkkunen, Senior Vice President of the European Commission.

🎤 Mikko Savola, who is a Member of the Finnish Parliament, Chair of the Regional Assembly of South Ostrobothnia and former Minister of Defence, highlighted in his welcome speech the security and defence related strengths and capacities of the regions of West Finland, from cybersecurity to renewable energy, ports and food security. Henna Virkkunen explained the key pillars of the new Commission: closing the innovation gap in relation to the US and China; EU competitiveness; and security. The Commission is taking a whole of society approach to defence and security – regions and municipalities have a crucial role e.g. in preparedness, and the Commission wants to work closely with Member States, regions and municipalitie

Picture: Seminar speakers in the first row

As a part of our 30th anniversary celebration, we hosted a panel discussion on the of topic “Regions & European Competitiveness”. The topic proved to be contentious, eliciting strong reactions from the speakers and the audience.

During the discussion, a crucial question emerged: What is the purpose of cohesion policy? What does it achieve?

MEP Aura Salla expressed a critical view on the necessity of cohesion policy. She emphasized that instead funding should be directed towards defence and innovation policy. The EU budget should be streamlined and focus on common priorities that bring EU added value – namely climate change, security and the economy. According to Aura, at least 15 % of the EU budget should go to defence and security.

Policy analyst Aleksandra Kisielewska (DG BUDG) agreed that difficult choices need to be made regarding funding priorities. Cohesion policy is not just financing basic infrastructure, but also preparedness, security, innovation and digitalisation. The Comission wants regions to be involved in the design and implementation of reforms and investments under the next MFF.

Regional Mayor of Ostrobothnia Mats Brandt emphasized that in West Finland, cohesion funding is used by e.g. SMEs and universities of applied sciences for innovation. He also advocated for strong multi-level governance in the future.

Dean of SAMK Heikki Haaparanta gave practical examples of the use of cohesion funds. One ERDF-funded project helped SMEs benefit from latest developments in AI and robotics.

Picture: Panel discussion

In his final reflections, DG REGIO’s Moray Gilland said that cohesion and competitiveness are the same side of the same coin. Cohesion policy is not perfect, but we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. We need a more simplified investment framework, while protecting the regional dimension in implementation.

Picture: Moray Gilland

The seminar programme was closed by Kristiina Salonen, mayor of Satakunta Region.

Picture: Kristiina Salonen speaking to the audience

After the celebration, the overriding emotion was gratitude. It was great to see how many partners from all these years attended the event. Hopefully, the work for actors in Western Finland will continue in Brussels for many decades to come. The EU is now a very important player in the world, nationally, regionally and locally. So let's make sure that cooperation within the Union works - only then can we ensure that the future is in the interests of Europe and Western Finland.

Picture: Mayors of Ostrobotnia, South Ostrobotnia, Central Finland and Satakunta with the manager of WFEO, Emilia Pernaa