Brussels, 21/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament committee on regional development (REGI) will be voting on the package for cohesion policy reform when it meets again in July. A number of sensitive issues have not yet been resolved but about ten negotiating blocks have been closed by the interinstitutional team of negotiators.
Co-rapporteurs leading the talks on the regulation common to the five structural funds confirmed to their colleagues from the REGI committee, on Wednesday 19 June, that the vote was still to be held in July. Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands) said: “We are pressing forward to reach a first reading agreement”. This would in fact allow the relevant national authorities to begin operational cohesion policy programmes from January 2014. At this stage, the thematic negotiating blocks, which are subject to an informal interinstitutional agreement, relate to: strategic programming, territorial development, monitoring and evaluation, eligibility, information and communication, management and control, revenue generation operations and public private projects, major projects and technical assistance. Also, discussions have now ended on regulations on the cohesion fund, the European regional development fund, as well as on the European grouping of territorial cooperation. Nonetheless, there is no agreement on anything until there is agreement on everything.
Socialist co-rapporteur Constanze Krehl (Germany) said “we were able to successfully close a majority of chapters” and that this shows “our willingness to speed up with the negotiations and to come to a final conclusion soon. The vote on the revised draft reports is an important step, as it gives certainty for those implementing cohesion policy in the regions. Now we are looking forward to continuing the negotiations with the Lithuanian Presidency and hope for prompt and satisfying conclusions”. (MD/transl.jl)