On 14 October 2026, SGI Europe, in cooperation with CER and CEMR, hosted a policy debate during the European Week of Regions and Cities. The discussion followed the question of how the Freedom to Stay can be made practical through services of general interest and policy action across Europe’s territories. 

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Opening the debate, Nicola de Michelis, Director for Smart and Sustainable Growth and Programme Implementation IV at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, set out the Commission perspective on translating the Freedom to Stay into a concrete European policy agenda, underscoring the need for a systematic, place-based approach that combines investment with enabling reforms across sectors. 
 

In a video message, María Elena Nevado del Campo, Member of the European Parliament and member of the REGI Committee, stressed out that cohesion policy is at a decisive moment and called for it to remain a strong, long-term instrument for sustaining SGIs, addressing depopulation and making every territory attractive. Bouke Arends, Mayor of Westland and Chair of the Netherlands delegation to the European Committee of the Regions, and Ethem Pekin, Head of Economic Policy and Sustainability at the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, pointed that a genuine freedom to stay starts with local job prospects, especially for young people, but also requires affordable housing, skills, quality services and reliable connectivity. Rail and seamless door-to-door transport are essential for allowing people to live in one place while working or studying in another.

 

The panellists called for a place-based, cross-sectoral approach that overcomes fragmented funding, protects essential infrastructure and service levels, and gives local and regional authorities a central role in shaping solutions around the strengths and needs of their communities. 
 

The closing remarks, made by the moderator, Alain Taccoen, Chair of SGI Europe’s Sustainability Board, set out the foundations of a credible Freedom to Stay agenda: a national framework, services designed at territorial level, a clear mapping of local challenges, and milestones and indicators to track access and affordability. 
 

Freedom to Stay will only become tangible when EU investment, cohesion policy and local action work together to guarantee the services, connectivity and opportunities that allow every territory to remain attractive, resilient and economically viable. Only then will businesses thrive where they choose to stay, and people be able to remain in. ​​​