Most of those who took the floor at the regional development committee (REGI) of the European Parliament lined up against the European Commission's proposal to withdraw maritime cross-border cooperation from the regulation setting out specific provisions concerning the "European territorial cooperation" objective (Interreg) at an initial exchange of views on Monday 3 September.
Readers may recall that the Commission proposed moving towards a trans-national approach (see EUROPE 12024) to territorial cooperation, to the alarm of the regions (see EUROPE 12004).
The position of the rapporteur, Pascal Arimont (EPP, Belgium), who has taken a clear stance against a proposal he cannot understand, was shared by most of the shadow rapporteurs, such as Kerstin Westphal (S&D, Germany) and Ruža Tomašić (ECR, Croatia), who was speaking on behalf of the absent shadow rapporteur, Sławomir Kłosowski (ECR, Poland). Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis (EA), rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee of the Regions, who also took the floor, voiced a similar view. “A border is still a border, whether it is on land or at sea”, she said.
The Commission representative responded to this point. “A border is still a border, but a land border and a maritime border are very different”, he argued, explaining that the Commission's aim was to place maritime cooperation within a more “integrated and strategic” framework, in order to take macro-regional strategies better into account.
Other disagreements
During his speech, Arimont also proposed raising the co-financing rate to 85%, from 70% in the Commission proposal. This amendment also won the support of most of the MEPs who took the floor, with the exception of Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands), who considers that 85% corresponds to the exceptional situation of the financial crisis that hit the EU between 2008 and 2016.
Arimont also warned against any attempts to divert money from the traditional aims of Interreg into the new plank on new inter-regional investments under the heading of innovation, which is under direct management, which goes against the essence of cohesion policy. Here again, most of the members of the REGI committee agreed. Finally, Arimont wishes to move from the n+2 rule to the n+3 system that prevails in the current multiannual financial framework.
The deadline for amendments has been set at 17 September. The rapporteur initially proposed 10 September, but most members felt that this did not give them enough time. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)