Brussels, 15/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - A fifth of the operational programmes member states submitted for the European Commission's approval have been endorsed, 46 programmes out of 203. This endorsement will help obtain funding for the 2014-2020 period, mainly from Cohesion Funds but also, to a lesser extent, from the European Social Fund.
This pace is being speeded up so that a maximum of programmes can still receive the Commission's approval this year and that payments can be made on the 2014 budget line. The Commission provided assurances that the projects approved in 2015, probably half of them, will be approved before June.
On Friday 12 December, the European Commissioner for Regional Development, Corina Creþu, said that she was delighted with the progress made in the rhythm of programme adoption but recognised that it “is a lengthy, thorough process, in order to achieve the best results with the interests of the citizens at heart”. The main thing for the Commissioner is that they kept their promise not to sacrifice quality over speed. (MD)