Brussels, 01/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has highlighted that alternatives exist to performance reserve and macroeconomic conditionality, the two highly sensitive political issues that are deadlocking cohesion policy negotiations. These are arguments that might very well hit the mark at the trialogue meeting on Wednesday 2 October.
Following the General Affairs Council on Monday 30 September, CoR President Ramon Luis Valcarcel Siso indicated to the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of Ministers that the performance reserve (7% of structural funding held in reserve until 2019) could reduce the level of ambition of the regions, causing them to lower their objectives in order to be sure of reaching them and of getting the money set aside at the end of the day. In a letter sent on 30 September to the Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius, the CoR president suggested the alternative of setting up a flexibility reserve which would be “funded by the automatic decommitments of EU funds (instead of returning them to member states”. This reserve could be used to fund innovative projects in priority policy areas, Valcarcel Siso argued.
He also pointed out that the CoR, a consultative body, opposes macroeconomic conditionality to ensure certainty of payment. However, it could agree to the amendment of the partnership agreements based on the Commission's macroeconomic recommendations, the letter states. The CoR continues to reject the suspension or cancellation of either structural fund payments or commitments in cases of failure to meet recommendations. (MD/transl.fl)