(Sir Europe – Brussels) - As outlined in the Treaties, “the aim of the regional policy” of the European Union is to “reduce the structural disparities between the regions as well as to promote regional development and equal opportunities” between the different regions of the Continent. “Regional policy is an expression of solidarity within the European Union. For Christians, solidarity is a natural expression of their faith”. For this reason Christian Churches are convinced that “particularly at a time when the European unification process is facing a severe test, the European regional policy is of great importance for the cohesion envisaged in the EU Treaties”. A joint statement released today by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches, the Council of Evangelical Churches in Germany and the Secretariat of the German bishops, reaffirms the importance of the European cohesion policy and analyses its reform by the European Commission - in the context of the Multiannual Financial Framework – with the publication on 6 October 2011 of an extensive documentation concerning the reorganisation of structural Funds (including the Cohesion Fund, the Social Fund and the Agricultural Development Fund). (continued)

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