Andrea Cozzolino (S&D, Italy), rapporteur on the draft regulation establishing the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF) after 2020, took a position against the Commission's proposal to nationalise thematic concentrations (which set the allocation of resources according to predefined objectives), during an exchange of views on its amendments in the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) on Monday 15 October.
As a reminder, the Commission proposed to nationalise thematic concentrations, in order to give Member States more flexibility in the regional allocation of funds according to thematic concentrations and also to reduce the number of interlocutors to be managed for the institution (see EUROPE 12021).
This development was criticised by the rapporteur, who feared the unsuspected territorial consequences of such centralisation, particularly on federal Member States (such as Germany) and Member States suffering from very high territorial inequalities (such as Italy).
Therefore, Mr Cozzolino proposed to amend Article 3 and redefine the categories at the regional level, based on GDP per capita and not GNI. Thus, there are three main categories of regions: more developed regions (above 100% of the EU average GDP), regions in transition (between 75% and 100%), and the less developed (below 75%).
The rapporteur proposes that Member States should be able to introduce room for manoeuvre at the level of thematic concentration of up to 10% at the level of regional categories, in order to adapt as closely as possible to territorial needs.
During the round table discussion, these proposals seemed to be the subject of consensus among the shadow rapporteurs. Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso (EPP, Spain) asked to ensure that thematic concentrations are not weakened as a result. Iskra Mihaylova (ALDE, Bulgaria) took a position in favour of a margin of flexibility, but at 5%.
The European Commission, for its part, was sceptical: placing thematic concentrations at national level allowed Member States a greater margin of flexibility. It is up to them to play on the thematic concentration levels to reach the averages set at the national level, she said. Furthermore, the institution considers that the introduction of a 10% margin for thematic concentrations may greatly complicate administrative procedures.
There is no shortage of the member's proposals. In particular, he wants to strengthen synergies with the European Social Fund+, reject any transfer to the Connecting Europe Facility, strengthen the territorial dimension, clarify Article 2 on the objectives of the ERDF and CF to introduce measures in favour of natural heritage, zero emission urban mobility and sustainable tourism, and stress the need to strengthen the administrative capacities of the Member States.
The deadline for tabling amendments was set at noon on 25 October. The date of the vote in the REGI Committee is not yet certain: it would be either the 3 or 13 December, depending on the number of amendments tabled. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)