Brussels, 25/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 24 November, the European Parliament's agriculture committee approved draft legislation to temporarily increase the maximum EU co-financing for rural development programmes for member states receiving bailouts from the European Financial Stability Mechanism (Greece, Ireland and Portugal) and the Balance of Payments Mechanism (Romania and Lativa).
Adopting a report on the matter by Paolo de Castro (S&D, Italy), the MEPs backed the idea of increasing the funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for programmes from the countries in question up to 95% of eligible public spending for regions eligible for the convergence objective, ultra-peripheral regions and small islands in the Aegean Sea, and up to 85% of eligible public spending for other regions during the period in which the countries are receiving bailout aid from Europe.
The temporary increase in EU co-financing would reduce the amount of cash the countries in question need to find for the 2011 and 2012 tax years and would therefore help to make programmed funds available for the rural economy and contribute to an overall economic recovery in these member states. The vote on the de Castro Report will take place during the plenary session of 12-15 December, at the same time as votes on reports recommending an increase in the EU co-financing rates for the same countries from the Structural Funds. (LC/transl.fl)