Poznan, 25/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 25 November, European regional development ministers generally supported the objectives of the Commission's legislative proposals reshaping cohesion policy over the period 2014-2020, although controversial issues were highlighted - such as macroeconomic conditionality and the capping of allocations.
During the informal meeting organised in Poznan by the Polish Presidency, ministers discussed the future of cohesion policy. The commissioner for regional policy, Johannes Hahn, upheld the idea that it was vital to review cohesion policy, which has been the subject of considerable criticism for years. He said cohesion policy, as reworked by the Commission, should be considered not as a solidarity policy but rather as investment, whereby a little is invested for considerable return on investment.
Generally in favour. During their round-the-table discussion, member states generally supported the idea of modernising the policy. Delegations said they particularly appreciated the fact that a common strategic framework was offered, providing regulation for five structural funds, the determination to establish a partnership contract between the Commission and the countries concerned, and emphasis placed on results (ex ante conditions, indicators, performance bonuses).
Macro-economic conditions. Debates, however, confirmed that certain subjects are cause for friction, such as macro-economic conditionality (suspension of funds in the event of violation by one country of the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact). Only Bulgaria and Finland were obviously in favour, according to a Polish Presidency source. A number of countries pointed out that they might subscribe to the mechanism if it were applied to all other European policies and not just to cohesion.
Ex ante conditions. Member states said they also wanted to consolidate talks on “thematic concentration”, which, although it is in line with the ambitions of the EUROPE 2020 strategy, forces member states to comply with over-strict quotas (ring-fencing). Delegations consider that national governments should be free to choose what meets their needs best. On the subject of ex ante conditions, which were set out in great detail in the annexes to the legislative proposal, delegations said that a number of pre-conditions were too specific and sometimes too far away from cohesion. Talks are to be continued on this.
Budget - no transfers. Although the Polish minister for regional development, Elsbieta Bienkowska, was adamant about the fact that discussion was exclusively on cohesion policy mechanisms and not on the policy's budget (the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020), talks on both dossiers were held in parallel, sometimes at the risk of colliding.
European ministers wished to emphasise two things. Firstly, they do not see the advantage of transferring €10 billion from cohesion to the Connecting Europe Facility, used to finance transport infrastructure. The second mainly concerns the Baltic states and Hungary, which are still concerned by the capping of allocations of European funds at a maximum of 2.5% of their GDP. These countries consider that the reduction from 4% to 2.5% of the ceiling, as the European Commission proposes, could cause them considerable detriment during the next structural fund programming exercise.
Territorial dimension. A second round-the-table discussion also covered urban development and an integrated approach to territorial development. The latter is a theme that is dear to the Polish Presidency, which is expected to publish a roadmap after the informal Council on the territorial agenda 2020. According to our sources, this is a document relating to a series of measures that could be taken by member states and the European Commission, and not only within the cohesion framework, but also through other policies. During the informal Council, delegations will already have been invited to volunteer for a number of these mechanisms.
Next stages. The conclusions of the informal Council should be available on Monday 28 November and will constitute a preliminary step to continued negotiation during the General Affairs Council on 16 December, that the Presidency would like to reserve exclusively for discussion on cohesion policy. Denmark, which is to take on the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers as of 1 January 2012, plans to include cohesion policy on the agenda of two ministerial meetings during the first part of the year, which goes to show the importance that this policy holds for the Union. (MD/transl.jl)