On Tuesday 9 October, members of the European Parliament’s regional development committee (REGI) rejected by a large majority (26 for, 2 against and 2 abstentions) the European Commission’s proposals to amend the common provisions regulation in order to allow use of the performance reserve to finance structural reforms.
The performance reserve, which makes up 6% of the budget of investment and structural funds, aims to reward projects that have attained their targets, in order to fulfil specific priorities within the framework of the partnership agreements.
The European Parliament co-rapporteurs – Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, NL) and Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) – believe things are clear: funds available must be used for the purpose to which they were initially allocated, recalling that local authorities and stakeholders were banking on the 6% foreseen in the performance reserve for projects financed, foreseen until the end of the programming period.
On that basis, MEPs call on the Commission to withdraw its proposal, which had immediately caused an outcry from MEPs (see EUROPE 12058) and from local and regional elected representatives (see EUROPE 11923).
Dissenting voices. Liberals Iskra Mihaylova (Bulgarian and Chair of the REGI committee) and Matthijs van Miltenburg (NL) expressed their disappointment after the vote, denouncing the "positions of principle" of the EPP and S&D Groups in a press release.
Van Miltenburg said the Commission’s proposal was of a "voluntary" kind and aimed to help member states to continue their reforms as part of the budgetary process of the European semester, which allows guidelines to be fixed at European scale on the economic and social policy of member states and at the level of the eurozone. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)