Strasbourg, 20/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - A partial in-principle agreement is expected to be obtained at the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 24 April on at least six negotiating blocks relating to the Commission proposals to reform cohesion policy during the 2014-2020 programming period. Although there was no shortage of criticism with regard to the Danish Presidency's determination to tackle a policy on which Denmark is a net contributor, Denmark has cut this short by taking big steps forward on some of the most technical parts of cohesion (management and control, monitoring and assessment eligibility) but also on major points in the proposals such as ex ante conditions and programming.
Partial approach. Since January, the Presidency has pursued different negotiations on cohesion policy; the idea is one of including the first conclusions in a partial general approach and to be able to therefore tackle other negotiating blocks, of which too many still remain. Nonetheless, what is included in the general approach could still change because as long as nothing has been approved, nothing has yet been adopted. It can therefore not be ruled out that this overall approach will still change substantially. The approach is partial also because it excludes, for example, the amounts of cohesion, regional category validation, macro-economic conditionality and the ceiling which are both discussed in the framework of the EU budget (see other article).
Ex ante conditions. The section on conditions to meet before being able to fund programmes will therefore be part of the first approach. Ex ante conditions proposed by the Commission are aimed to make cohesion policy more effective. Nonetheless, further debates have not been ruled out at the General Affairs Council. The criteria established by the Commission are very precisely defined: member states have returned to these in an effort to vindicate and swiftly verify them, so as to avoid the addition of too many administrative costs in the future.
Programming. The general partial approach will also define the partnership agreement, which will be first of all established between the Commission and each member state. The block on programming will be included again because it tackles common rules on the five bases on which the common strategic framework is based (European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Cohesion Fund, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund). This section will define the role of the Commission, member states and regions. During the Tuesday debates, member states may again review the link between cohesion policy and European strategies. Will it be necessary to link them more closely to country specific recommendations (an approach that is particularly defended by Germany) or to national reform programmes (an approach that will be supported by the British)?
Management, control, assessment and eligibility. Other sections are more technical but are subsequently very important as regards the organisation of awarding funds and programme implementation. One negotiating block tackles the fund management and control process and another involves programme follow-up and assessments, relating to European structural funds. Eligibility is covered in another negotiating block, which will be included in the partial general approach. The question will be raised as to whether payments will be ended on programmes that have already been completed (which is possible in current legislation). Finally, the last block is aimed to provide independent experts with the possibility to audit major projects, instead of this being covered by the Commission, which is currently the case. The Council is keen on separating the roles for the major projects.
After adoption of the partial general approach, the Council working group will, as far as possible under the Danish Presidency, tackle the negotiating subjects, irrespective of figures, such as thematic concentration, financial engineering, specific provisions on fund regulations, territorial co-operation and the urban development approach. (MD/transl.fl)