08/02/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 8 February, the European Parliament and Council of the EU reached an agreement on the regulation for the Structural Reform Support Programme 2017-2020. The programme is expected to enter into force in April 2017 and to run until 31 December 2020. It will thus be provided with an overall envelope of €142.8 million. The negotiations were conducted with exceptional speed under the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU as they only began in January this year. The Maltese Presidency hailed this result, which it believes is proof of its "strong commitment" to the file. An additional meeting will nevertheless be needed in relation to the timetable originally planned for reaching an agreement (see EUROPE 11716). (PH)