EU countries seem to be moving closer to a compromise on the mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020, explain sources after a meeting of the Committee of member states’ permanent representatives to the EU (COREPER) on Wednesday 9 November.
COREPER examined a new Slovak Presidency of the Council compromise on review of the MFF and technical talks will take place on Thursday 10 November at the Friends of the Presidency group (see EUROPE 11661). The EU’s General Affairs Council will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 15 November to examine progress in talks on the MFF.
The discussions at COREPER revealed that some net beneficiary countries for the Cohesion Policy want assurances to avoid unpaid bills piling up in the last years of the MFF (when programme implementation under the Cohesion Policy reaches cruising speed). The European Commission may draft a declaration to reassure these nations.
The compromise document foresees €900 million for 2017-2020 for the Youth Employment Initiative (the Commission suggested a billion euros for 2017-2020).
Extra funds. The European Commission suggested releasing €6.4 billion in 2018 to 2020 to finance the EU’s priorities. The Slovak Presidency plans to reduce this to €5.7 bn through possible redeployment of appropriations from Heading 1a (Growth) and Heading 4 (the EU in the world).
Special instruments. On the question of the special instruments (the EU Solidarity Fund, the European Globalisation Fund, the emergency aid reserve and the Flexibility Instrument), there are still disagreements over putting the funds above or below the MFF headings. The Slovak Presidency suggests maintaining the status quo with a Council decision on a case-by-case basis.
The Slovak Presidency is trying to boost flexibility in the EU Solidarity Fund (in order to be able to use cash from the fund, for example, in 2017 that was not used in 2015).
The compromise document foresees a rise in the upper limit for the Flexibility Instrument to €550 million a year (compared with the current €471 million). The Commission suggested doubling the Flexibility Instrument’s capacity.
The draft compromise still does not include the Commission’s idea of setting up a new fund to manage crises in the EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)