Following the first day of the 'Competitiveness' Council on Thursday 27 September, the Commissioner for the Single Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, reiterated the importance of reinforcing the link between the 'European Semester' budgetary process and the Cohesion Policy to tackle regional disparities and increase competitiveness.
In the press room, the Commissioner referred to the discussions concerning the competitiveness check-up in Europe, this time given over to the territorial dimension of competitiveness (see EUROPE 12104). Unsurprisingly, the Cohesion Policy was the subject of many of the contributions, she said in answer to a question from EUROPE. Within this framework, the Commissioner stressed the importance of an enhanced role for the 'European Semester' in consolidating competitiveness.
“It is important to combine the two”, the Commissioner stressed, adding that reinforcing the 'European Semester' - the subject of many discussions between members of the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12046) – will make it possible to refine the analysis of competitiveness, thanks to an evaluation of investment gaps and regional disparities.
The Commissioner also stressed the importance of not centralising European programmes and said that she is in agreement with her own country, Poland, which said when addressing the Council that there is a need to regionalise programmes. Bieńkowska notes that there were increasing territorial inequalities within certain member states, whilst general convergence has been noted between member states.
The question of reducing the budget of the Cohesion Policy and, in particular, that of the Cohesion Fund (-46% compared to the multiannual financial framework) was reportedly mentioned only by a national delegation from the Eastern European country, a source told us. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)