04/05/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 2 May, the member states gave their green light to the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU to open negotiations with the European Parliament on the €80 million increase of the structural reform support programme (SRSP). This will bring the total envelope of the programme to €182.8 million up to 2020, as proposed by the European Commission in December 2017 (see EUROPE 11920). The member states also agreed for this increase to be based partly on a redeployment of the budgets of existing programmes (€40 million) and partly on unused budgetary margins (€40 million). Inter-institutional negotiations are expected to begin in either July or September. (PH)