15. Regrets that, although the new cohesion policy has legally binding urban-related aspects, especially regarding involvement of cities in the programming phase, the actual participation of city and urban representatives in the shaping of the policy is weak, and believes it can be improved by an early involvement in the policy processes, for example through consultation, evaluation and exchange of best practices and experiences; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the application of the partnership principle (als ...[+++]o taking into account the European code of conduct on partnership (Article 5.3 of the Common Provision Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013)) when implementing programmes and projects supported by EU funding, with particular attention being given to the involvement of cities, towns and functional urban areas in the preparation, management and governance of the programmes, including at cross-border level;

15. Regrets that, although the new cohesion policy has legally binding urban-related aspects, especially regarding involvement of cities in the programming phase, the actual participation of city and urban representatives in the shaping of the policy is weak, and believes it can be improved by an early involvement in the policy processes, for example through consultation, evaluation and exchange of best practices and experiences; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the application of the partnership principle (als ...[+++]o taking into account the European code of conduct on partnership (Article 5.3 of the Common Provision Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013)) when implementing programmes and projects supported by EU funding, with particular attention being given to the involvement of cities, towns and functional urban areas in the preparation, management and governance of the programmes, including at cross-border level;

34. Stresses that the social partners at national level should have been consulted or involved in the initial design of programmes; regrets the fact that the programmes designed for the four countries in some cases allow firms to opt out of collective bargaining agreements and to review sectorial wage agreements, which has direct consequences for the structure and values of collective bargaining arrangements set out in the respective national constitutions; notes that the ILO Expert Committee has requested that the social dialogue be re-established; condemns the undermining of the principle of ...[+++] collective representation, which puts into question the automatic renewal of bargaining agreements that, in some countries, is important, as a consequence of which the number of collective agreements in force has fallen substantially; condemns the cut in minimum wages and the freezing of nominal minimum wages; stresses that this situation is the consequence of having limited structural reforms involving only the deregulation of labour relations and wage cuts, which runs counter to the EU’s general objectives and the policies of the Europe 2020 strategy;

54. Would like the Agenda for Change to specify the important and independent role of regional and local authorities and civil society, not only in implementing development programmes and projects, but also as fundamental players in the process of developing evidence-based development policies; highlights the importance of improving cooperation with them and calls for regular dialogue and consultations with them in policy-making; in this regard, underlines the importance of establishing dialogue between the EU and civil society orga ...[+++]nisations and regional and local authorities;

60. Believes that the climate change challenge must be addressed through structural reforms, and calls for a systematic climate change risk assessment of all aspects of policy planning and decision making, including in trade, agriculture and food security; demands that the result of this assessment be used to formulate clear and coherent country and regional strategy papers, as well as in all development programmes and projects;

Specific research projects to support policy development will also be possible through the AGIS programme , any successor under the Financial Perspectives (2007-2013), and studies funds.