Ministers with responsibility for regional policy, meeting in the General Affairs Council (GAC) in Luxembourg on Tuesday 25 April, will hold an informal discussion over lunch on the future of cohesion policy after 2020.
This informal exchange will seek principally to inform the thinking of the European Commission which is due, in the course of 2018, to present a communication on the future of cohesion policy for the forthcoming planning period.
The discussion will be structured around three questions posed by the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU: how to ensure that cohesion policy addresses future challenges and assists the development of all regions; how cohesion policy can take account of the various social, territorial and economic situations and provide tailored solutions; how to focus cohesion policy investment on European priorities.
This will just be early thinking, a diplomatic source has told us, making clear that, over the period, “things will change considerably”, referring to the elections in France and Germany and the Brexit talks.
In addition, our source points out that, ultimately, the cohesion policy budget is decided by the European Council which often retains control by carefully setting out the budgetary framework allocated to cohesion policy within the multiannual financial framework, unlike with other sectoral policies.
This will not be the first time ministers have considered the future of cohesion policy. At November’s General Affairs Council, an initial exchange was held but from the angle of simplifying the policy (see EUROPE 11667).
On Tuesday morning, Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu will present a specific action list – prepared in tandem with the services of Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Marianne Thyssen – to improve communication on cohesion policy. The lack of communication, a problem often highlighted in inter-institutional discussions, is often cited as one of the major shortcomings of the policy (see EUROPE 11728). This issue will be one of the main points in the Council conclusions.
Ministers will, on 25 April, adopt two separate sets of conclusions, already reported by EUROPE (see EUROPE 11768): one on implementation of macro-regional strategies and the other seeking to make cohesion policy “more effective, relevant and visible to citizens”. On this latter point, ministers will discuss the achievements of cohesion policy and how to improve communication and how the European Commission can contribute to this.
The so-called omnibus regulation. The Maltese Presidency will report on the state of play on the legislative proposal on simplifying the rules governing European structural and investment funds and negotiations on the omnibus regulation. The debate will be public. Technical discussions on the section devoted to cohesion policy have been completed. Decisions on the positions on the other sectoral policies must now be awaited. It is expected that the committee of permanent representatives will adopt a position in June, allowing inter-institutional negotiations with the European Parliament to begin.
Ministers will also take note of the adjustments made to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to assist those regions affected by natural disasters (see EUROPE 11763).
Firearms and roaming charges. Ministers are expected to adopt a number of legislative texts that have received wide media coverage, notably on firearms (see EUROPE 11745) and the regulation on ending roaming charges on 15 June 2017 (see EUROPE 11763). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)