The Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is a standing committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for the European Union's regional and cohesion policy, including the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, territorial cooperation, urban and rural territorial development and the Union's outermost regions.

The committee examines how EU funding is used to reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between regions. It also scrutinises the design and implementation of cohesion-policy programmes and the effect of other Union policies on regional development.

Responsibilities

REGI is responsible for regional-development and cohesion policy as provided for in the Treaties. Its work includes legislation governing the structural funds, the Cohesion Fund, European territorial cooperation and measures addressing the specific needs of regions facing geographical, demographic or economic disadvantages.

Its remit includes:

the European Regional Development Fund; the Cohesion Fund; the territorial dimension of the European Social Fund Plus; Interreg and other forms of European territorial cooperation; economic, social and territorial cohesion; urban and rural territorial development; regions affected by industrial transition; sparsely populated, mountainous, island and border regions; the Union's outermost regions; cooperation with regional and local authorities; the territorial effects of other EU policies; and relations with the European Committee of the Regions, interregional organisations and local-government associations.

Cohesion policy

Cohesion policy is the European Union's principal investment policy for reducing disparities between regions and supporting balanced territorial development. It finances infrastructure, business development, innovation, environmental projects, social inclusion and the transition to a climate-neutral and digital economy.

REGI acts as Parliament's lead committee for the regulations governing the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and Interreg. It also examines the common rules applying to cohesion-policy funds and monitors negotiations between the Commission, member states and regional authorities.

Territorial cooperation and regional challenges

The committee deals with cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation through the Interreg programmes. These programmes support joint projects between regions in different member states and neighbouring countries in fields such as transport, environmental protection, public services, innovation and emergency preparedness.

REGI also examines the effects of population decline, ageing, geographical isolation, industrial transition and unequal access to public services. Particular attention is given to border regions, islands, mountainous areas, sparsely populated territories and the outermost regions.

Implementation and oversight

The committee monitors the implementation of cohesion programmes and may organise hearings, missions and exchanges of views with the European Commission, national governments, regional authorities and beneficiaries. It examines delays, administrative burdens, audit requirements and the effectiveness of EU-funded projects.

REGI also considers how cohesion funding contributes to wider Union priorities, including climate action, energy transition, digitalisation, transport connectivity, social inclusion and recovery from economic or natural disasters.

Chairs

The following table lists the chairs of the committee since 2004.

Name Political group Member state Took office Left office Gerardo Galeote EPP–ED Spain 2004 2009 Danuta Hübner EPP Poland 2009 2014 Iskra Mihaylova ALDE Bulgaria 2014 2019 Younous Omarjee GUE/NGL France 2019 2024 Dragoș Benea S&D Romania 2024 Incumbent

Members

10th Parliament, 2024–2029

The committee currently has 41 full members. Its current composition is shown below, with the chair and vice-chairs indicated in italics.

European People's Party Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats European Conservatives and Reformists Renew Europe Gabriella Gerzsenyi, Hungary, Vice-Chair Pascal Arimont, Belgium Fredis Beleris, Greece Daniel Buda, Romania Christian Doleschal, Germany Krzysztof Hetman, Poland Isabelle Le Callennec, France Dan-Ştefan Motreanu, Romania Elena Nevado del Campo, Spain Andrey Novakov, Bulgaria Marta Wcisło, Poland Dragoș Benea, Romania, Chair Nora Mebarek, France, Vice-Chair Andi Cristea, Romania Klára Dobrev, Hungary Sérgio Gonçalves, Portugal Sabrina Repp, Germany Marcos Ros Sempere, Spain Raffaele Topo, Italy Francesco Ventola, Italy, Vice-Chair Antonella Sberna, Italy Șerban Dimitrie Sturdza, Romania Waldemar Tomaszewski, Lithuania Ľubica Karvašová, Slovakia, Vice-Chair Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, Netherlands Elsi Katainen, Finland Ciaran Mullooly, Ireland Patriots for Europe Greens–European Free Alliance The Left Europe of Sovereign Nations Tamás Deutsch, Hungary Klara Dostalova, Czechia Afroditi Latinopoulou, Greece André Rougé, France Rody Tolassy, France Gordan Bosanac, Croatia Vladimir Prebilič, Slovenia Mārtiņš Staķis, Latvia Kathleen Funchion, Ireland Younous Omarjee, France Valentina Palmisano, Italy Irmhild Boßdorf, Germany Non-Inscrits Ruth Firmenich, Germany Fidias Panayiotou, Cyprus

Substitute members

The committee's substitute members are listed below.

European People's Party Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats European Conservatives and Reformists Renew Europe Maravillas Abadía Jover, Spain Nikolina Brnjac, Croatia Andrzej Buła, Poland Paulo do Nascimento Cabral, Portugal Jan Farský, Czechia Esther Herranz García, Spain Alexandra Mehnert, Germany Jacek Protas, Poland Maria Walsh, Ireland Iuliu Winkler, Romania Sakis Arnaoutoglou, Greece Daniel Attard, Malta Sofie Eriksson, Sweden Hannes Heide, Austria Tsvetelina Penkova, Bulgaria Rosa Serrano Sierra, Spain Georgia Tramacere, Italy Marko Vešligaj, Croatia Waldemar Buda, Poland Giuseppe Milazzo, Italy Denis Nesci, Italy Guillaume Peltier, France Dan Barna, Romania Sandro Gozi, France Joachim Streit, Germany Patriots for Europe Greens–European Free Alliance The Left Europe of Sovereign Nations Mireia Borrás Pabón, Spain Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain, France France Jamet, France Julien Leonardelli, France Aldo Patriciello, Italy Rasmus Andresen, Germany Cristina Guarda, Italy Ana Miranda Paz, Spain Giuseppe Antoci, Italy Elena Kountoura, Greece Mimmo Lucano, Italy Volker Schnurrbusch, Germany Non-Inscrits Katarína Roth Neveďalová, Slovakia

Research support

The committee is supported by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies. It provides studies, briefings and analyses on cohesion policy, regional disparities, structural funds, territorial cooperation, demographic change, urban development and the specific conditions of individual regions.

Research prepared for the committee is published through Parliament's supporting-analyses database and the European Parliament Think Tank.

See also

Regional policy of the European Union European Regional Development Fund Cohesion Fund Interreg European Structural and Investment Funds European Committee of the Regions Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Special territories of members of the European Economic Area Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy

References

External links

Official website Members Supporting analyses European Parliament Think Tank European Commission – Regional and Urban Policy