Brussels, 05/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - A majority of MEPs have expressed their support for the plans of the Commission to create a new category of beneficiary regions under the cohesion policy 2014-2020. In the resolution drafted by Markus Pieper (EPP, Germany), the Parliament also recommends a more targeted and more transparent use of the structural funds to reduce disparities between the regions, whilst at the same time responding to the common challenges of the EU 2020 strategy. The resolution was adopted by 506 votes in favour, 48 against and 101 abstentions in Strasbourg this Tuesday 5 July. Following this vote, the Commission intends to propose a legislative package at the end of September, containing a general regulation and regulations for the social, cohesion, regional development and territorial cooperation funds. A proposed joint strategic framework for all European funds will follow at the end of the year (EUROPE 10403). Readers may recall that the mini-plenary of 23 June postponed the vote on the Pieper report until the July session, as there was not enough time for the discussion. (EUROPE 10404/10389/10387).
According to the Pieper resolution, the Parliament is calling for a substantial increase in the envelope for territorial cooperation (objective 3), notably to support cross-border projects for the trans-European transport and energy networks. The resources made available under objective 2 (regional competitiveness and employment) should be used to “obtain results in a limited number of EU priorities, such as support for SMEs, green innovations, local economies, education and training, infrastructure, sustainable mobility, renewable energy and energy supply, the efficiency of resources and social inclusion”, with a certain amount of leeway for choices and the results to be targeted, on the basis of the specific needs of each region.
The MEPs also stress that the European Social Fund (ESF) must remain an integral part of the cohesion policy (...) and work in favour of many small-scale local projects, as long as the Commission reduces the administrative burdens which are preventing small businesses and organisations from benefitting.
Lastly, the resolution recommends “the use of a single-level audit procedure, in the framework of which the member states would assess the projects, whilst the Commission would examine the assessment procedures of the member states”.
Speaking to the press after the vote, Markus Pieper stressed the “very clear signal being sent out by the Parliament: in future, the cohesion policy must be seen as a fundamental policy of the Union”. The German MEP stressed the fact that “we are not asking for more money, but we want to have the funds available to us and to be able to use them more effectively”. Pieper lamented the fact that it had not been really possible to obtain an agreement on the intermediate categories of regions: the Commission is in favour, the Council is not providing a great deal of support and over at the Parliament, “it has to be stressed that 150 members of the European Parliament do not want the replacement of the regions to move from phasing in to phasing out!”, he noted.
The Greens/EFA Group announced that it was abstaining in the final vote on this report. Karima Delli, Catherine Grèze and François Alfonsi explained that the Parliament “should have gone further, by proposing a more relevant indicator than GDP, adding social and environmental criteria to it, in order to measure the well-being of the regions when dividing up the aid between the European regions”. The Ecology Europe-Greens MEPs also regret “the Parliament's lack of clear sightedness of this report, which does not take sufficient account of the energy challenges and the fight against climate change, objectives which are laid down in the EU 2020 strategy”.
Over with the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the French MEP Estelle Grelier, a member of the budgets committee, welcomes the fact that the Parliament has taken position in favour of this intermediate category of regions: “this is an important victory for the French Socialist delegation and the S&D Group: in the Commission's proposal for the financial perspectives 2014-2020, the plan for the intermediate regions - which have become regions in transition - was confirmed”. She concluded on a note of “genuine relief for the French regions, which have been strongly mobilised on this issue” (EUROPE 10391/10389). On behalf of the whole Socialist delegation, Catherine Trautmann of France concluded: “Like for the CAP, like for the budget and the own resources, our major concern is to reinforce fairness. In order to achieve the harmonious development of the EU, the principle of solidarity must fully apply to the allocation and management of the regional funds, with a sincere reflection on the Community budget in parallel.” (G.B./transl.fl)