Brussels, 15/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - As the dispute within the European Parliament relating to the overall minimum amount to be allocated to the European Social Fund (ESF) during the period 2014-2020 has not been settled beforehand, MEPs will have to settle the matter during the plenary vote on reform of cohesion policy, on Wednesday 20 November. An amendment suggests amending the compromise obtained further to interinstitutional negotiations to attribute to the ESF a minimum share of 25% of the total cohesion policy budget, and not 23.1% as agreed with the Council of the EU.
The employment and social affairs committee (EMPL) of the European Parliament will vote on the ESF on Monday 18 November. It will vote on the text as a whole, except for the point affecting the funding threshold. There has been disagreement since the end of the trialogue early October with the regional development committee (REGI) which backs the minimum threshold of 23.1% fixed in the compromise (see EUROPE 10934). In addition to the burning issue of macro-economic conditionality, MEPs could also reject the compromise to then go on and adopt an amendment amending the ESF budget share. For now, the result of the vote remains highly uncertain. The question is whether the S&D Group, which should be followed by several national delegations of the EPP, will obtain sufficient votes to raise the threshold by 1.9%.
For the European Commission, however, rejection of the existing compromise could delay the implementation of programmes. In an interview granted to EUROPE, on Thursday 14 November, Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn said he was “confident that the agreement, as it was reached by the leading parliamentary committee and the Council, will get a huge majority. Otherwise, if there is a second reading, there is a risk of delays, up to one year for the complete implementation of programmes”. This is a position that is at odds with the Commission's initial proposal which hoped to see the minimum budgetary share granted to ESF increased, from 22% (2007-2013) to 25% (2014-2020). (JK/transl.jl)