The alliance regionen.NRW, a coalition of the nine regional development organizations in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier, met on June 25 in Berlin with around 20 members of the Bundestag from NRW for a political exchange. The goal was to highlight key regional policy concerns and bring them into the political discourse. The focus was on topics such as the design of future EU cohesion policy, the reform of the joint task “Improvement of Regional Economic Structures” (GRW), and current funding strategies for infrastructure development in structurally diverse regions.

After a brief introduction of the alliance, an intensive expert discussion took place. The aim was to bring concrete impulses from regional practice into ongoing political reform processes at the federal and EU levels. Representatives of the alliance advocated, among other things, for funding eligibility across all regions and for the consistent implementation of the partnership principle.

Ms. Anne König, Member of the Bundestag, thanked the group for the practical perspective: “Strong regions are the backbone of a sustainable Federal Republic. The exchange with the alliance regionen.NRW demonstrates how important close cooperation between politics and regional stakeholders is for strengthening mutual understanding, further developing funding policies in a practical and targeted manner, and securing sustainable development perspectives across all parts of the country.”

In the evening, the alliance also presented itself at the NRW Summer Festival at the State Representation with its own stand featuring regional specialties. Around 1,500 guests from politics, business, science, and media attended the event.