Brussels, 23/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is not impressed at having been sidelined from negotiations on certain planks of the legislative package revising the cohesion policy for the next programming period 2014-2020. A few hours ahead of the meeting of the General Affairs Council this Monday, which is due to tackle the place of cohesion policy within the multi-annual financial framework, the chair of the parliamentary committee on regional development, Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), has sounded the alarm. If 80% of the content of the package is negotiated under an ordinary legislative procedure putting the Council and European Parliament on an equal footing, a number of crucial points will be discussed solely in the framework of the negotiation on the multi-annual financial framework. This situation reduces the role of the EP which under the favourable opinion procedure, will only be able to approve the Council's position, or reject it en masse.
Furthermore, the EP has also expressed concerns that this part of the legislative package is being dealt with at finance minister level, rather than by the ministers in charge of sectorial policy, and is therefore being “pinched” from the cohesion policy. “We are concerned at the approach adopted by the Council”, Hübner told EUROPE. Supported by the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, she has written a letter to this effect. Taking the opportunity of the presence of the Danish minister for European affairs, Nicolai Wammen, she also gave the following speech at last weeks meeting of the chairs of the parliamentary committees: “I have raised this issue and let it be understood that the EP will not agree to have no right to negotiate on an equal footing with the Council, as on the subject of the categories of the regions, upper limits, VAT, etc”. The former European commissioner added: “there are a great many things which must be the subject of a decision, regulatory framework or no regulatory framework. But it is right for the Council to start a discussion on cohesion.” The REGI committee hopes that it will on the “cohesion” package in July. (MD/transl.fl)