Brussels, 06/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - EU cohesion policy will play a key role in translating the EUROPE 2020 targets into practice, but its main objective remains reducing wealth gaps between regions. By involving all levels of government, cohesion policy has set an example for Territorial Pacts aimed at implementing EUROPE 2020. This is, in fact, the substance of the recommendation adopted by the Committee of the Regions on Tuesday 5 October in Brussels. The rapporteur for the opinion is Michael Schneider (EPP, Germany), the secretary of state for federal and European affairs in the Saxe-Anhalt region. The committee also warned against a multiplication of sector-specific EU funding programmes and insisted on keeping the European Social Fund in the cohesion policy framework.
The perspective of the multiannual financial framework expiring in 2013 and the adoption of the ambitious objectives contained within the EU 2020 strategy provoked the debate on the shape of future cohesion policy. In the run-up to the informal cohesion Council meeting on 22-23 November in Liège, the Belgian Presidency had asked the Committee of the Regions to clarify the relationship between cohesion policy and the EUROPE 2020 targets. The opinion developed by Schneider is a response to this request. He sees cohesion policy and the new strategy as “interdependent”, but insists that the former remains a policy in its own right with goals set by the EU Treaty. CoR members also insist that the EUROPE 2020 initiatives must not increase red tape for regional and local authorities. Introducing new reporting obligations, shifting money away from structural funds to new sector-specific funds, or removing the European Social Fund from the cohesion framework would mean exactly that and is therefore rejected by the CoR.
To unleash the synergies and systemic effects needed to fulfil a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, the Committee of the Regions has given the green light for a Europe-wide campaign in favour of Territorial Pacts between national governments and the regional and local authorities, which Schneider believes is extremely important. This decision was taken by the CoR Bureau at its meeting on 5 October and is therefore directly connected to the position on multilevel governance. The CoR has called on the European institutions to encourage the conclusion of such agreements. (G. B./transl.fl)