Brussels, 16/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The principle of partnership between the central and local powers seems to be struggling to become a habit. However, it is now set in stone in the Code of Conduct following the reform of cohesion policy. Research carried out by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in 18 member states shows that just four central governments work hand in hand with the regional level to determine investment plans for the European structural funds available for the period 2014-2020. There is progress to be made on this, the association recommends.
Code of conduct. In order to improve the absorption of the €352 billion allocated to the European structural funds for this period, the new rules under the cohesion policy provide for investment strategies to be established by the member states working together with the regional authorities, and for these to be included in the partnership contract to be signed between the European Commission and the member states. A Code of Conduct charts this partnership and clearly stipulates that the regions must be involved in the exercise.
Varying practices. However, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania and the Netherlands seem to be the only countries in which the partnership can be described as full, according to the CEMR study. The partnership, it reports, is partial in some ten other member states (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Latvia, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and limited in Belgium, Estonia, Slovenia and Cyprus. Each country is free to organise its partnership in its own way and practices differ. The CEMR notes that, in certain countries, the local authorities have had to lobby to make their voices heard and assert their right to partnership. In other cases, such as in France and Estonia, there are consultations. In Belgium and the United Kingdom, the governments have fully delegated the preparations for the investments to the regional level. However, the Danish government is the champion of the principle of partnership by some distance, as annual cooperation agreements are laid down with the local authorities.
Tripartite agreements. On the basis of its findings, the CEMR recommends that efforts be made by most member states to apply the principle fully, before the funds start to be made available. The ideal scenario, according to the association, would be for tripartite agreements to be signed between the European Commission, the member states and the regional governments. However, for the time being, no mechanism of this kind has been set in place. (MD)