At the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Thursday 12 April, Ministers with responsibilities in this area will have discussions about the strategic priorities in the next post-2020 cohesion policy.
We have been informed that this is “the last chance" for ministers to communicate their political priorities for the next cohesion policy to the European Commission before the latter presents its proposals for the forthcoming multi-annual financial framework (MFF) on 2 and 29 May next (see EUROPE 11961).
The member states will be requested to express their point of view on the investment priorities for cohesion policy, the regions that are expected to be affected by the future policy and, subsequently, the criteria applicable to the allocation of funds and the means to fast track implementation of the policy.
The discussions will therefore be based on a document drawn up by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU that condenses the result of the orientation debate carried out at a group level in February and March.
Increasing priorities
According to the report that EUROPE obtained the current priorities mentioned by the member states at a political level include innovation, climate change and support for growth and employment.
Several delegations have also mentioned the challenges relating to the digitalisation of the economy, research, connectivity (particularly with regard to transport), managing migration flows, social inclusion and the fight against poverty, in addition to tackling youth unemployment.
Training and education, competitiveness, enhancing administrative capacity, cross-border cooperation (Including cooperation with third countries), urban and demographic challenges, as well as structural reforms relating to specific country recommendations, will also be included in the priorities mentioned. In all the different places, the delegations highlighted the principle of added European value.
All regions
According to several delegations, the Bulgarian Presidency has reported that the vast majority of delegations have requested that the future cohesion policy continues to cover all European regions with an emphasis on less developed regions - on the condition, however, that the budget of the future cohesion policy remains similar to the current one.
With regard to allocation criteria, per capita GDP has obtained broad consensus among the member states. The possibility of introducing new criteria was also mentioned that take into account unemployment, migration, innovation, industrial transition, pockets of poverty in urban areas, workers’ skills levels, structural reforms, demographic changes and life expectancy, as well as climate change. Some delegations insisted that allocation remains within the national remit.
Categories of regions
The member states appeared more divided on the categories of regions (more developed, in transition and less developed). Certain delegations mentioned the possibility of reducing the number of categories to two instead of three. The regions in transition were the subject of discussions in an effort to avoid the threshold effects.
Effective implementation of next cohesion policy. The Council is also expected to adopt without debate, the conclusions on implementation of post-2020 cohesion policy. In this public document (details can be found here: https://bit.ly/2GPaDEi ), they call for simplification of the rules and increased transfer of competencies to the member states with regard to the operational implementation of cohesion policy, an implementation that they would like as soon as possible.
Communication. Finally, the Commission will examine the seven joint measures launched last year to improve the communication on cohesion policy (see EUROPE 11779). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)