Advies Comité van de Regio's over structuurfondsenverordeningen (en) - Hoofdinhoud

Flexibility, simplification, full involvement of regions and cities in shaping and implementing operational programmes and partnership contracts. These are the keystones for the success of the future cohesion policy according to 4 opinions on the structural funds regulations adopted at the meeting of the CoR Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy (COTER) held in Lisbon on 5 March.

GENERAL REGULATION

The unanimously adopted opinion on the General Regulation of the Funds covered by the Common Strategic Framework, drafted by Catiuscia Marini (IT/PES i), president of the Umbria Region, sets the CoR vision of the overall priorities of the new programming phase.

The opinion reiterates the firm refusal of any macroeconomic conditionality penalising regional authorities as a result of Member States’ failure to comply with their obligations. It expresses support for strategic choices such as the introduction of the new category of transition regions and the principle of thematic concentration of investments proposed by the Commission. However, an excessive use of thresholds and fixed percentage for resources allocation would make the designing of operational programmes too complex and wider margins of flexibility are requested in order to address local and regional needs, adapting investments to territorial specificities.

In this respect, one of the key messages put forward by COTER is the need for a strong involvement of regions and cities in the framing of the partnership contracts, alongside Member States.

Concerning the evaluation of the funds implementation, instead of devoting 5% of available resources to a performance reserve aimed towards rewarding the achievement of the milestones set in the programmes, COTER members support the introduction of a “flexibility reserve” made up of unspent funds, to finance, for instance, experimental initiatives in the areas of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

As regards simplification, the opinion calls for the deletion of provisions introducing new accreditation bodies, as well as for a reduction of managing authorities’ reporting duties and a rationalisation of controls and audits.

EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND

More flexibility and a softening of mandatory percentages in thematic funds allocations are also among the main requests included in the opinion on the regulation for the European Funds for Regional Development (ERDF) drafted by Michael Schneider (DE/EPP i), State Secretary and delegate of the State of Saxony-Anhalt for the German Federation.

The opinion deals with some of the most controversial issues in the new regulations, such as the selection criteria for infrastructural investments in the more developed regions, the inclusion of larger companies in ERDF aid for business investments, the inclusion of private research bodies, besides public ones, among the beneficiaries of research and innovation funded projects. Within the debate, the rapporteur strongly advocated a wider flexibility in order to maximise the impact of ERDF investments and their focus on territorial competitiveness.

Furthermore, the opinion calls for the use of a wider definition of areas with natural or demographic handicaps and expresses support for the emphasis put by the Commission on urban sustainable development, a priority on which 5% of available resources will be invested.

In this perspective, the role of the Committee of the Regions in promoting the sharing of best practices and in monitoring policy implementation has been stressed together with the risk of duplication resulting from the urban development platform outlined in the proposed regulation.

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND

In relation to the new rules for the European Social Fund (ESF i), the opinion drafted by Konstantinos Simitsis (EL/PES), mayor of Kavala, acknowledges the importance of the increase in the fund allocation. While recognising the value of promoting a stronger weight of ESF projects in Member states’ and regions’ development strategies, it opposes the strict method for setting ESF shares by category of region and calls for indicative percentages to be translated into shares tailored to the actual needs of local communities.

Regarding to the scope of the fund, the opinion warns about the risk of the ESF becoming a tool exclusively devoted to the Europe 2020 Strategy, losing its function as a lever of social cohesion. It also regrets the absence of any reference to promoting flexicurity in the labour market - an issue covered in Europe 2020 Integrated Guidelines.

EUROPEAN COHESION FUND

The opinion on the proposed regulation on the Cohesion Fund, drafted by Romeo Stavarache (RO/ALDE), mayor of Bacău, addresses some of the most controversial issues in the Commission’s proposal, such as macroeconomic conditionality and the new Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

The opinion emphasises the role of multilevel governance in ensuring a balanced territorial development and an effective implementation of Cohesion fund-driven investments in infrastructure. It welcomes the added value of the CEF for the territorial development of EU regions and cities. However, there is a danger of failing to prepare mature cross-border projects and to fully implement the new Facility’s budget. This budget still remains unclear, i.e. with regards to national allocations and to the integration with ERDF projects as well as for the Cohesion Fund itself.

In respect to the expenditure priorities, the opinion supports the Commission’s selection of the areas of action and emphasises the growing relevance of housing policies and the opportunity of supporting projects aimed at improving the energy performance of buildings.

“Today our commission has adopted crucial CoR opinions on cohesion policy. The last occasion was in 2005 and the next will be in 2019” said COTER chairman Michel Delebarre (PES/FR), Mayor of Dunkerque, referring to CoR institutional activity on the past and on the future structural funds programming periods. A strong appreciation for the quality of the work performed by rapporteurs and COTER members has been expressed also by Lisbon mayor Antonio Costa (PT/PES), hosting the session.

The opinions will be presented for discussion and adoption at the next CoR plenary session on 3-4 May

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The Committee of the Regions

The Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives. The mission of its 344 members from all 27 EU Member States is to involve regional and local authorities and the communities they represent in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are obliged to consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.