Brussels, 18/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Addressing representatives of the regions in Brussels on Tuesday 17 May, Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu took stock of the major strands of cohesion policy and spoke about some of the issues that will have to be settled prior to the drafting of the new cohesion policy.
The commissioner pointed out first of all that a balance had to be found between responding to current issues and long-term investment strategies, referring here to the refugee crisis. The Commission made a number of adjustments last year to allow reprogramming of structural and investment funding (ESI fund) to cope with growing influxes of migrants. This was a decision that was welcomed by some regions and criticised by others (see EUROPE 11525). At the start of April, Cretu met with regional and local authorities to discuss this very question (see EUROPE 11525).
The second topic addressed by the commissioner was the relationship between cohesion policy and the European semester, in conjunction with macro-conditionality, an issue bitterly debated in the past, with the Committee of the Regions even considering at one point taking the matter of macro-economic conditionality to the courts (see EUROPE 11022). Cretu has recently argued for flexible interpretation of this new provision in cohesion policy 2014-2020 (see EUROPE 11468). Valdis Dombrovskis, who has responsibility for the euro and social dialogue, has argued for the role of the regions in the European semester to be strengthened (see EUROPE 11485).
Thirdly, Commissioner Cretu posed the question of how cohesion policy could be radically simplified so that the focus is on its performance rather than on legality and regularity. Simplification is one of the main priorities of the commissioner's term of office, she having set up a simplification group in July 2015 (see EUROPE 11356). During the exchanges which followed Cretu's speech, a Polish representative expressed his concern over the consequences of such a change, now that local and regional administrations had adapted to the regulatory framework, a source revealed.
Lastly, the commissioner raised the issue of a differentiated cohesion policy. Some member states, such as Germany, are of the view that audits, for example, have to be adjusted in line with the levels of fraud and irregularity detected in the regions. Others, more radical, like French MEP Jean Arthuis, take the view that the new cohesion policy should focus on the most disadvantaged regions (see EUROPE 11494).
The results of this discussion will be set out in the 7th cohesion report, which will follow the presentation by the Commission of the new financial framework at the end of next year. This will pave the way for the Commission proposals for the new period in 2018 and then the negotiations with the Parliament and the Council, to enable everybody to start working on the ground in 2021, the commissioner said. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)