The European Commission would seem to favour a transnational approach to territorial cooperation in maritime affairs, moving away from any form of cross-border territorial cooperation, according to a provisional version of the new regulation on European territorial cooperation, a copy of which was obtained by EUROPE on Friday 18 May.
The fears of a number of regions of the demise of cross-border territorial cooperation in maritime affairs (see EUROPE 12004 and 12017) would thus be confirmed, were the regulation to remain unchanged. Only transnational maritime cooperation is mentioned in the regulation, in Article 5 on the geographical coverage of the regulation in transnational maritime cooperation.
The only derogation for which provision is made in the new legislation is for cross-border cooperation between regions sharing a maritime border by means of a “fixed link”. This falls within Article 4 on the geographical coverage for cross-border cooperation. This is a derogation that would cover a number of maritime border regions linked by transport infrastructure, such as that between Sweden and Denmark or between France and the United Kingdom.
This exemption, however, does not seem to be enough to satisfy regional observers. “This is very bad news”, a source commented. “There is a risk of know-how and of networks between border regions being lost with this change”, the source added, suggesting that the worst affected would be the Baltic and northern coastal regions where the Interreg programmes are the principal sources of European funding.
Additionally, our source feels that the change could raise issues with regard to subsidiarity, leaving the matter of governance of the programmes unclear: many regions would lose their status as managing authorities. Lastly, in the view of another expert, there is the risk that regions’ specific needs might be watered down.
New components. The Commission plans to bring in a large number of innovations and intends to divide cooperation into five components, rather than three as present. Cross-border territorial cooperation will focus on the land-based dimension and will operate at the NUTS III level, the smallest planning unit in classification of European policies.
Transnational maritime cooperation will be at NUTS II level. Here, the Commission wants to put in place new maritime programmes at sea basin level in an effort to align financing and macro-regional strategies.
Inter-regional cooperation is also retained to support experience-sharing and improve the effectiveness of implementation of cohesion policy.
A major innovation is that the Commission builds in cooperation for the outermost regions with one another and with third countries. This is very good news, according to several sources, who see in it an opportunity to ensure that the geographical characteristics of the outermost regions are taken more into account in the European Union’s new regional policy.
In a further important innovation, the Commission makes provision for inter-regional innovation investment programmes, the goal of which is to support actors at local level and bring them together in clusters to foster the development of innovative products and services. The proposal forms part of the Smart Specialisation Strategies – RIS3 – which are particularly well-liked by the regions.
Brexit. An interesting point is that, among the third countries mentioned, is the United Kingdom, alongside Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino. The Commission, then, would permit territorial cooperation with the UK after Brexit. Indeed, the PEACE programme which seeks to consolidate the peace process between Northern Ireland and the neighbouring counties of Ireland is specifically mentioned.
Simplification. The Commission extends the simplified cost options within the framework of the small project fund, for those not exceeding €20 million or 15% of the total allocation of an Interreg programme.
The Commission is expected to set out its sectoral proposals for the post-2020 multi-annual financial framework from 29 May. In-depth changes are to be expected with regard to categories of regions, according to a number of documents seen by EUROPE. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)