On Tuesday 28 March, Jyrki Katainen, the vice-president of the European Commission with overarching responsibility for economic issues, laid out his vision of the cohesion policy post-2020, at a conference hosted by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). This vision might not be entirely to the liking of the regions.
“We must recognise the truth: I would be extremely surprised if the next budget (of the EU) would be bigger than the current one”, the commissioner told his audience. To Katainen, then, there is clearly a need to focus not so much on the size of the next budget as on its content – and most of all, to reflect on the various resources to improve the effectiveness of the cohesion policy.
The commissioner stressed the need to bolster synergies and combinations of the various investment instruments available, for instance with the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) – an option that has the regional and local authorities jumping up and down (see EUROPE 11747). However, during exchanges with the members of the Council, the commissioner took pains to be reassuring, pledging that the cohesion policy would above all continue to be based on a system of grants.
The commissioner also considers that the link between the cohesion policy and economic governance should be reinforced, as “cohesion policy doesn't operate in isolation from the wider macroeconomic and fiscal context”. There is little doubt that this declaration will be commented on at length by the regions, which see macroeconomic conditions as a means of pressure, as they can potentially be used to sanction the regional level for policies carried out at national level (see EUROPE 11738).
Differentiation and proportionality. The commissioner went on to express his support for ex-ante conditions, cutting red tape, signposting on results and setting in place common rules for all funds. Within this framework, he takes the view that the principles of differentiation and proportionality will be key aspects in the future cohesion policy.
Making the implementation of the current cohesion policy a success, the better to defend it. Like the commissioner for regional policy, Corina Creţu (see EUROPE 11626), Katainen believes that the best way of defending the cohesion policy for the next period is to obtain the best possible results in the implementation of the current cohesion policy. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)