Lord Mayor elected as the new Chairwoman of the Steering Committee of the European Office of the Saxon Municipalities
Municipal state associations support the State Ministry of Economic Affairs: EU funding must be simplified
The Mayor of Chemnitz, Barbara Ludwig, was elected as the new Chairwoman of the Steering Committee of the European Office of the Saxon Municipalities in Bautzen on Tuesday. She replaces Görlitz District Administrator Bernd Lang as chairperson. The committee brings together Saxon mayors and county councillors twice a year to discuss issues relating to European policy and European law. The chairmanship of the steering committee alternates annually between the municipalities and districts.
At the meeting, the steering committee agreed to support the endeavours of the Saxon State Ministry for the Environment and Agriculture (SMUL) to simplify the EU regulations on the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
"The EU funding procedures are overloaded with bureaucratic requirements and must become simpler and more efficient. The basic principles for EAFRD presented by the SMUL should also be extended to other EU funding programmes such as ERDF and ESF. The actual objectives of EU funding must once again take centre stage," demanded Mayor Ludwig.
"In preparing for the new funding period, it is crucial to take a critical look at the federal and state funding requirements in addition to the EU regulations," said Ludwig. From a municipal perspective, additional requirements from the federal and state governments have contributed to the fact that the jungle of funding regulations has become impenetrable. Many local authorities are now refraining from submitting funding applications due to the complicated funding procedures.
"The control system envisaged by the EU with up to eleven independently operating inspection bodies is also inefficient and therefore needs to be significantly streamlined," added Bernd Lange, District Administrator of the Görlitz district. In addition, the tolerance for errors must be increased so that the scarce control resources can concentrate on financially significant errors.