Brussels, 08/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The structural reform support programme (SRSP) proposed by the European Commission last November worries the Committee of the Regions (CoR). It is to be financed out of regional funding initially to be used to provide technical assistance in the use of the structural and investment funds (ESIF), says the CoR in an opinion adopted in plenary session in Brussels on Thursday 7 April.
Under the SRSP, member states can call on a group of experts when looking to put in place the structural reforms as part of the European Semester. It is the result of experience gained in supporting reform in Cyprus and Greece, said a source, indicating that this group's financing of €142.8 million comes directly from the ESIF.
“This matter, while it does not involve huge sums in resources, demonstrates once again the European Commission's tendency to dip deeper into the ESIF to fund programmes and objectives other than those of cohesion policy”, commented a European source. Cohesion policy pursues the goals of sustainable and inclusive growth where national structural reforms are also subject to financial consolidation, the source said.
The CoR, fearing that the European Semester could result in centralisation of growth and reform strategies, calls for local and regional authorities to be involved and be able to benefit from the technical assistance provided by the SRSP. In particular, the CoR considers the SRSP as a pilot project for the period from 2014 to 2020 and, consequently, not able to be funded from the ESIF in the next period.
The members of the CoR are concerned, too, at the scope of the programme and want it to focus on policy areas where responsibility is shared between the European Union and the member states. “This programme is voluntary but that does not mean that it can be an open bar either”, said rapporteur of the opinion Olga Zrihen (PES, Belgium).
The CoR feels that the SRSP might overlap with existing technical assistance programmes under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund, and sectoral EU programmes such as Connecting Europe Facility, Horizon 2020, Europe for Citizens. It calls, therefore, for a single strategic document to “set the EU priorities on improving administrative capacity at all levels of government”. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)