Brussels, 31 May 2024
Next week, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira will be travelling to Germany to discuss the impact of Cohesion Policy funds on the ground and the future of the Policy. The Commissioner will also visit several EU-funded projects.
On Monday, Commissioner Ferreira will have bilateral meetings with Vice Chancellor, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, and the State Secretary for European Affairs in the Federal Chancellery, Jörg Kukies. She will also give a speech at the German Bundestag, recounting how Cohesion Policy has reduced economic, social, and territorial disparities across Germany and the EU, and has been a key driver for economic growth.
On Tuesday, Commissioner Ferreira will be in Saxony to visit the LEAG energy plant in Boxberg and will meet with the Saxon Ministers for the Economy, Martin Dulig, and for Regional Development, Thomas Schmidt. LEAG, a leading energy company active in the Lusatian and Central German lignite territories, is one of the main beneficiaries of the Just Transition Fund (JTF), investing in the production and storage of green hydrogen. The overall region of Saxony is benefitting from €645 million in JTF funds to propel the region’s just transition to a net-zero economy.
In the afternoon, the Commissioner will visit several research projects at the SEMECO project cluster at the National Centre for Tumour Diseases / University Cancer Centre, in Dresden, which have received support from the Cohesion Policy funds.
Over the two-day trip to Germany, Commissioner Ferreira will hold three press points: on Monday at 13:30 CEST in the Bundestag together with the Chair of the EU Affairs Committee, Anton Hofreiter; on Tuesday at 12:00 CEST on the site of the LEAG factory in Boxberg together with Ministers Dulig and Schmidt, in which they’ll announce JTF support for green energy projects; and at 16:30 CEST at the National Centre for Tumour Diseases / University Cancer Centre in Dresden with Minister Dulig.