Brussels, 25/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Nearly half of all EU member states have submitted their formal partnership contract proposals to the Commission. Once signed, these contracts will link them to the European Commission so that they can obtain and manage European structural funds in 2014-2020. So far, 12 member states have submitted informal versions of their partnership contracts: Poland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Hungary, Germany and the Netherlands. In just under a month, on 22 April at the latest, the 16 remaining member states will also have to submit their partnership contracts. The Commission will assess them to determine whether the member states' strategies for using structural funds comply with revised cohesion policy goals. Once approved, and possibly amended, the contracts can be signed and adopted by the two parties. In an effort to ensure that the EU funded programmes are launched as soon as possible, it is important for the contracts to be submitted and adopted without any further delay. (MD)