Brussels, 22/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The two three-way meetings in Strasbourg have made it possible for informal agreement to be reached on three new negotiating blocks for the structural funds in draft legislation to reform the cohesion policy.
Agreement is reported to have been reached on the negotiating blocks on management and assessment, eligibility and information and communication. Co-rapporteur Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands) tweeted on Wednesday 22 May that work would continue on financing and the European social fund and the package would be voted upon by a European Parliament committee in July and by the plenary in October.
The regulation on the cohesion fund has been divided into 17 negotiating blocks, 12 of which remain to be concluded, in addition to the most politically sensitive issues, like macroeconomic preconditions and a performance reserve, which have yet to be addressed. An initial informal agreement was reached at the last minute by the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of Ministers in late December 2012 on partnership and a code of conduct. Another informal agreement was reached under the Irish Presidency last week on territorial development (see EUROPE 10848). The Irish Presidency was put under pressure by joint EP rapporteurs Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) and Lambert van Nistelrooij for failure to act. European Regional Development Commissioner Johannes Hahn, the chair of the EP's regional development committee, Danuta Hubner (EPP, Poland), and Ireland's permanent representative to the EU, Rory Montgomery, met to get the ball rolling (see EUROPE 10838), and this appears to have been achieved.
The co-rapporteurs will report back on the three-way institutional talks at the next meeting of the regional development committee (on Wednesday 29 May). (MD/transl.fl)