Brussels, 21/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the EU is expected to consolidate its position soon on the entire future cohesion policy. Member state ambassadors (COREPER) have approved the remaining parts of the general partial approach. Trilogue negotiations have already begun and are going well. A first reading agreement on the cohesion package is expected before the summer.
On Wednesday 20 February, COREPER gave the go-ahead for the fifth general partial orientation on Cohesion Policy. The different component parts making up this final general partial orientation consist mainly of the considerations in the regulation containing the common provisions on the five structural funds and regulations introducing the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund and the European Group of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC).
This latter agreement complements the four previous partial Council agreements. It is expected to be formally ratified by the EU27 during the next Council meeting. Subsequently, the Council will add the finishing touches to its vision for the 2014-2020 reformed Cohesion Policy. This overview, will, however, remain a general partial approach, as long as the figures contained in the political agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MMF) have not definitively been ratified.
Nonetheless, trilogue negotiations have already begun on the cohesion package and an informal agreement on the first thematic block was already obtained last December (see EUROPE 10756). The other agreements are expected to follow in the next few weeks and months, unless the inter-institutional trilogue delivers an overall agreement in a single session, which according to a source close to the dossier, cannot be ruled out. European Parliament rapporteurs Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) and Lambert Van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands) consider that an agreement in a first reading on the overall package is possible before summer. This, however, also depends on the agreement on the EU's 2014-2020 budget.
During the regional development committee meeting at the Parliament on Tuesday 19 January, Krehl said that discussions with the Council and the Commission were going forward at a good pace.
These negotiations, however, have been tough. The most difficult elements to negotiate mentioned by the Parliament rapporteurs involve macro-economic and performance conditions. These two measures have been ratified by the Council in the political agreement on the 2014-2020 MFF but Parliament categorically rejects them. (MD/transl.fl)