The members of the European Parliament said 'yes' to reinforcing the structural reform support programme, as called for by the European Commission, as long as this is not at the expense of the other priorities of the cohesion policy, during the vote on the report by Ruža Tomašić (ECR, Croatia), which was adopted by a comfortable majority (15 votes to 3, with one abstention) by the committee on regional development (REGI) on Monday 25 June.
Readers may recall that on 6 December 2017, the Commission proposed to increase the envelope of the programme from €142.8 million to €222.8 million in current prices for the years 2019 and 2020, thanks to the flexibility instrument of the multiannual financial framework (art. 11 of the Council of Regulation 1311/2013). In particular, the institution invited the member states to use article 11 to transfer some of the resources from the 'technical assistance' plank of the structural and investment funds to the support programme, for instance to support reforms related to the adoption of the euro.
The proposal met with scepticism from the MEPs (see EUROPE 12036). In a compromise amendment, the MEPs stated that this increase “should not negatively impact” the other priorities of the cohesion policy. Additionally, in the same compromise amendment, the MEPs stress the importance of giving the member states a free hand and not requiring them to plug the budgetary gaps of the support programme out of the structural and investment funds.
In general, the MEPs increase the territorial and social dimensions of the support programme, for instance in the general objective of the programme, which states that the support programme should assist the member states, but also the local and regional authorities, if necessary. The MEPs also hope to focus programme on, amongst other things, social inclusion, the fight against tax evasion and poverty and ensuring genuine EU convergence.
The rapporteur expressed wishes of beginning the inter-institutional negotiations as soon as possible, so that the member states can invoke the programme from October of this year. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)