Brussels, 21/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Although the European Parliament managed to adopt a common position on Monday 20 May on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the position nevertheless remains fragile. The Parliament's employment and social affairs committee, which is the lead committee, decided on maintaining an envelope of €3.5 billion over seven years (2014-2020). However, due to a dispute on the rules of participation in the programme, it did not obtain the mandate for negotiations with the Council of the EU.
The report, written by Emer Costello MEP (S&D, Ireland) was adopted without difficulty by 36 votes to 4, with 3 abstentions. However, it was not the same with the vote for the negotiating mandate. This fell two votes short. In the view of committee's chair, Pervènche Berès (S&D, France), “the only difficulty is that it delays the beginning of the negotiation with the Council. This means that under the Irish Presidency, it would be difficult to begin this negotiation as we need to wait for the vote of the plenary to have the mandate (…) which raises a concern for the possibility of implementing the programme from 1 January 2014” (our translation).
Another difficulty looms on the horizon. As the vote on the mandate will now have to go to the plenary session, this offers a new opportunity for amendments. And if this vote has just run aground in committee, it is because the S&D Group is opposed to an amendment - which is supported by the EPP Group, the Greens, ALDE and the ECR - in favour of voluntary participation in the programme and, importantly, with the possibility for the member states to re-use the money for other projects financed by the structural funds. The option of obligatory participation having finally won, the Greens put up resistance, opposing the immediate start of the interinstitutional negotiations and thus keeping the door open for fresh bargaining.
Costello has said he is confident about the possibility of keeping the same majority at the vote on his report in plenary. Yet although the negotiations with the Council are likely to be more arduous, especially as the very existence of the fund is challenged by a blocking minority, led by Germany, and as at the same time the Council and Commission want to reduce the budget envelope to €2.5 billion, the Parliament is finally having trouble in defining its own position. (JK/transl.fl)