The budget proposed by the European Commission for Cohesion Policy as part of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will represent a 12.5% reduction compared to the budget planned in the current MFF. This reduction is calculated by comparing constant prices for 2018, according to an initial analysis paper published by the European Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) directorate general on Friday 4 May.
According to the figures provided in the study, the budget allocated to Cohesion Policy in constant 2018 prices for the 2014-2020 period is €377 billion, while the figure forecast for the next 2021-2027 budget cycle is €330 billion, which constitutes a 12.5% reduction. If the share allocated to the United Kingdom is deducted, the reduction falls to around 10% (9.7%).
One source at the Committee and the Regions (CoR) stated that “Unfortunately, figures from the Parliament's services have just confirmed our analysis”. When the Commission presented the communication, the CoR calculated a 10% reduction (9.7%) as opposed to the reduction of between 5-7% previously put forward by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12013). Isabelle Thomas (S&D, France) had also made a similar forecast.
By deducting the European Social Fund (ESF), due to fundamental changes to the fund (see other article) and the Connecting Europe facility (CEF), given that this involves a fund under direct management (see EUROPE 12015), the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions’ (CPMR) forecasts went as far as 35%.
A stable global budget
Another observation made in the study involves the fact that the European budget remains stable between the current MFF (€1.138 trillion) and the future European budget (€1.135 trillion), if the European Development Fund is included in the current budgetary cycle.
To examine the EPRS study please see the following link: https://bit.ly/2Iiinyq. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)