27/04/2017 (Agence Europe) – During the European Parliament's mini-plenary session in Brussels on Thursday 27 April, MEPs adopted (470 votes in favour to 166 against with 14 abstentions) the report by Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands) and Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) on the proposal for a regulation on the support programme for structural reform 2017-2020. The support programme is aimed at offering technical aid on a voluntary basis to any member state that would like to improve its administrative and institutional capacities for conducting structural reforms (see EUROPE 11678). The programme is allocated €142.8 million until 2020. The vote was welcomed by Commissioner for the Euro Valdis Dombrovskis in a press release, who says this system will be used to set up reforms that will generate a surplus of growth in the long-term. (PH)