The Commission is preparing a strategy for early 2027 for regions where people are leaving due to a lack of opportunities

The “Right to Stay” strategy is expected to be adopted at the beginning of 2027 and to address access to jobs, public services, education, skills and infrastructure in territories affected by demographic decline. The Commission says that 149 million people have lived, over the past two decades, in an EU region that lost population. At this stage, the initiative does not create a new individual legal right.

The European Commission is preparing a “Right to Stay” strategy for the beginning of 2027, intended for regions where demographic decline, a lack of jobs, insufficient public services or poor infrastructure are pushing people to leave. Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, says the initiative must provide communities with the conditions necessary for residents to build a future where they live, without mobility to another region or country becoming an economic necessity.

In brief

The Commission intends to adopt the “Right to Stay” strategy at the beginning of 2027.

According to the Commission, 149 million people, approximately one in three Europeans, have lived over the past two decades in a region that lost population. The figure does not represent the number of people who emigrated.

The strategy will address access to economic opportunities, quality public services, education and skills, transport and digital connectivity.

The Commission consulted local and regional authorities, civil society and other stakeholders before drafting the strategy. Fitto said that the consultation process received more than 700 contributions.

“Right to Stay” is currently a public policy and territorial cohesion objective. The strategy does not automatically create a legal right allowing a person to request the same services or investments in any locality in the EU.

The problem the Commission is trying to address is not population mobility itself. Freedom of movement remains one of the fundamental characteristics of the single market, and people may choose to study, work or live in another region or country. The “Right to Stay” concept starts from situations in which leaving is no longer a real choice, because the community of origin lacks jobs, transport, education, healthcare, connectivity or other conditions necessary for a normal life.

The Commission estimates that 149 million people lived, at some point during the past two decades, in a European region that lost population. The indicator must be interpreted carefully: it measures the population that lived in regions experiencing demographic decline, not the number of people who left those regions and not the number of people who would directly benefit from the future strategy.

Population decline can have different causes. In some territories, the number of deaths exceeds the number of births. In others, young people or people with certain qualifications leave for major cities or other countries for education and employment. The two phenomena can combine, and population loss can reduce the tax base and local demand for services, making it even more difficult to maintain schools, transport, medical facilities or economic activities.

The strategy should address this problem through a territorial approach, rather than through a single measure applied uniformly to all regions. The Commission identifies economic opportunities, public services, education and skills development, infrastructure, transport and digital connectivity as key areas. The needs of a rural region with an ageing population may differ from those of a declining industrial city, an island or a region located on the Union’s eastern border.

The initiative adds to several territorial strategies prepared by the Commission. These include the European urban agenda, measures for the regions on the eastern border, the strategy for islands and the new strategy for the outermost regions. “Right to Stay” is expected to function as a broader framework linking the demographic issue to investment, services and regional development.

The consultation began before the final document was drafted. The Commission launched a call for contributions, and Fitto stated at the European Week of Regions and Cities that more than 700 contributions had been received from stakeholders and civil society organisations in the Member States. Implementation dialogues and discussions with local and regional authorities also took place.

The European Committee of the Regions calls for the strategy to be built on the characteristics of each territory and for local and regional authorities to participate directly in determining the measures. In the statement adopted in September, representatives of the regions formulated the principle as follows: mobility must remain a choice, rather than being imposed by a lack of opportunities.

This request is directly linked to negotiations on the future European budget. Creating jobs, maintaining healthcare and education services, building infrastructure or developing public transport require investment. Regional authorities therefore argue that a strategy on the right to stay cannot operate separately from cohesion policy and from how European funds will be allocated after 2027.

The Commission makes the same connection with the preparation of National and Regional Partnership Plans under the future budget. Fitto said that the strategy would be adopted early enough to influence the preparation of these plans. If the architecture proposed for 2028-2034 is adopted, they will become the main instrument through which countries will group regional, social and territorial investments financed from the EU budget.

There is, however, also a definitional problem. The name “Right to Stay” may suggest the existence of an enforceable legal right. The documents currently being prepared describe more of a public policy principle: people should have conditions good enough to be able to choose to remain in their community. The Commission has so far not proposed a rule guaranteeing every citizen an identical level of public services, investment or jobs regardless of the territory in which they live.

An analysis prepared for the European Parliament highlighted this possible ambiguity, pointing out that the expression could create an expectation of an individual right to equal services and investment throughout the territory of the Union. The concept initially used in Enrico Letta’s report was “freedom to stay”, before “right to stay” entered the current Commission’s political guidelines.

The next stage is to turn the concept into a strategy with concrete instruments. The Commission must determine what types of territories are targeted, what measures will be proposed, through which funds they can be financed, what indicators will measure the results and what role national, regional and local authorities will play. Until then, the beginning-of-2027 date represents the announced timetable for adopting the strategy, not the date on which a new legal right will enter into force.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/comisia-pregateste-pentru-inceputul-lui-2027-o-strategie-pentru-regiunile-in-care-oamenii-pleaca-din-lipsa-de-oportunitati