Brussels, 23/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - Three partnership agreements have been signed this week. Germany, Poland and Greece are now officially linked to the European Commission to make use of the European structural and investment funds (ESIF) in 2014-2020. However, this does not mean that the new programmes to be funded by the EU will start immediately.
Following the inauguration of the new concept of a partnership agreement in the framework of the reform of cohesion policy, three further countries have had their investment strategies approved by the European Commission, following negotiations.
Poland stands out among the three countries by the proportion of credit available to the country. €76.6 billion will be divided up among 22 operational programmes in this financial programming period, of which €12.8 billion will come from the European social fund. €24 billion, or more than a third of the funding (ERDF and cohesion) will be earmarked for infrastructure projects (transport, energy). Nearly a further third will go to research and innovation with €10 billion while, for the same period, Poland will lay emphasis on the low-carbon economy, granting 9.8 billion to renewable energies, amongst other things (30% increase compared to the previous period). Whereas in the previous period, the ESIF “allowed substantial development in the country”, creating jobs and promoting growth, Warsaw must “build on this success”, European Commissioner for Development Johannes Hahn observed.
The partnership agreement signed by Greece lays down the country's strategy to absorb the €15.52 billion to be allocated to it up to the end of the decade. 13 regional programmes will benefit, with a priority emphasis on developing human capital, the fight against unemployment and exclusion and support for entrepreneurship. The European social fund will play a key role with €3.33 billion. Under the youth employment initiative, €171.5 million will target young people specifically, as more than half of the country's youth are out of work. In addition, €4.2 billion will be earmarked for rural development with particular attention to modernising public administration and environmental protection. These are particularly “important strategic choices”, the commissioner commented, welcoming the fact that the priorities have been placed in a hierarchy in order to “make the most of valuable EU funding and ensure the Greek economy gets back on track”.
The agreement signed between Germany and the Commission will be for a total of €19.2 billion, to be divided among 32 operational programmes, 15 of which stem directly from the European social fund (€6.7 billion). The investment priorities retained are reducing the disparities between regions, promoting research, supporting the energy transition and developing human capital.
Other agreements will follow these in the coming months and the commissioner is committed to signing all 28 by the end of his term in office. However, this does not mean that the money will be made available in the immediate future and that the programmes can be set in place. The operational programmes themselves have still to be proposed by the member states and approved by the Commission (October). Hahn also pointed out that, this year, the member states have focused on carrying out programmes funded under the previous period (2007-2013). However, he noted that preparations for the implementation of the cohesion policy have a year's head start compared to the previous exercise. (MD)