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In the most recent plenary session debate, the European Committee of the Regions’ members pointed out to the EU Commission’s Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Suica, that the measures introduced to combat depopulation and brain drain need to be supported by customized approaches, especially on rural areas that depend on retaining young talent.
Leaders from different regions in the EU warned that the brain drain could cause growing regional disparities that also risk the sustainability of the European project. According to the regional and local leaders, it is necessary to better identify and diversify challenges and opportunities as well as develop specific measures based on each region, considering upskilling and reskilling needs related to the green and digital transitions, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The European Union faces rising inequalities, but some regions are at greater risk of falling behind. When young people leave their place to find opportunities, this is a warning signal that there is a need to act. Cohesion policy represents a key tool, combined with other factors, to promote solutions that can better respond to the needs of each territory,” Vasco Alves Cordeiro, the President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), pointed out in this regard.
The EU Commission Vice-President, Suica, also noted that the demographic changes could be an opportunity for the EU to strengthen its resilience and not risk disparities, while Tanya Hrisotva, Chair of the CoR’s SEDEC Commission, stressed that economic and social development could succeed once the action is taken at the local level.
The debate is based on “Harnessing Talent in Europe: a new boost for EU Regions”, which identifies that 46 EU regions are in a “talent-development trap”, with the majority of these regions being in Eastern and Southern Europe, which altogether represent 30 per cent of the EU population. They are also affected by low birth rates, decreasing working-age population, decreasing rates of higher education graduates and brain drain.
Thus, the Commission intends to develop the Talent Booster Mechanism, which includes eight components; a new pilot project launched this year, a new initiative for the smart adaptation of regions to demographic transition, the Technical Support Instrument, cohesion policy, as well as the new call for innovative actions to test tailored solutions by EU cities, among others.
The EU Member States are facing a decline in their working-age population, as this population has decreased by 3.5 million people within a five-year period (2015-2020) and is expected to lose another 35 million people by 2050.
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