Brussels, 29/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions has again appealed for the way the public deficit is calculated within the Stability and Growth Pact to allow for greater flexibility with regard to national and regional co-financing in cohesion policy.
The draft report underpinning this message is quite significant given that it was drafted by Nicola Zingaretti, who is also a president of the Italian region of Lazio. Italy has recently announced that it would waive its right to €500 million from structural funds as part of its cohesion envelope, so that it does not have to co-finance them and subsequently avoid being subject to the European Commission's budgetary requirements (EUROPE 11185).
Zingaretti's draft opinion was adopted on 22 October by the committee in charge of territorial cohesion (COTER). The rapporteur points out in the opinion that removing regional and national co-financing from the calculations of public debt in the Stability and Growth Pact, should be a priority. In his draft opinion, he argued that such a shift would release resources for investment selected on the basis of the European interest and would speed up spending procedures. He is also calling for a more substantial rethink on the connection between the conditions for allocating European structural funds and respect for budgetary consolidation by member states. His report will be put forward for adoption during the plenary on 3-4 December next. (MD)