MEPs on the Committee on ‘Regional Policy’ (REGI), following a morning-long marathon vote on Tuesday 22 January, maintained macroeconomic conditions under the future Common Provisions Regulation (adopted by 25 votes to 1 with 9 abstentions), but not without making substantial amendments to the provisions laid down by the European Commission.
The maintenance of macroeconomic conditions should be stressed, as parliamentarians had hitherto been particularly hostile to this provision. Compromise amendment 15A was the subject of particular attention among observers on the committee's left flank. It was adopted by 22 votes to 15.
However, while recognising the need to deploy measures linking "the effectiveness of the funds" to "good economic governance", MEPs deleted point 6 of Article 15, which provided for the possibility of suspending part or all fund payments in the event that a Member State is unable to provide a satisfactory response to country-by-country recommendations made as part of the ‘European Semester’ budget process.
Subsequently, in point 7, the members suggest, after taking into account the economic and social circumstances of the Member State, that the Commission propose to "gradually" suspend all or part of the commitments.
This approach is intended to not block payments, explains a parliamentary source, and to prevent local and regional authorities from finding themselves in great difficulty. "We may see suspension occur more often if it only refers to commitments ", explains our source. However, the issue of macro-conditionalities is expected to be debated when the text is submitted to the plenary.
As we mentioned earlier this week, MEPs have made substantial changes to the proposal (see EUROPE 12176), including: - aligning the future budget allocation for Cohesion Policy with that of the current 2014-2020 budget cycle, which amounts to €378 billion in 2018 prices; - strengthening co-financing rates (85% for the least developed and the outermost regions, 65% for the regions in transition and 50% for the most developed regions); a reduction in the transferable portion to InvestEU, the future European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI; 1% for the first five years, then 2.5% for the following years); - considering the potential for flexibility in the calculations of the Stability and Growth Pact for public investments made under the Structural and Investment Funds framework; - the addition of ex ante conditions in line with the European pillar of social rights On this last point, the vote on the amendment was surprising, because it provides in particular for the fight for “upward convergence” and against “unfair competition”, which could have led to a rejection by the national delegations of the East.
The return of the EAFRD. In the first compromise amendment, MEPs introduced the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in the first article on the scope of the Regulation. However, some exemptions were introduced. "I don't know how the AGRI committee will take it", confirms one source, who is anticipating an eventful vote in plenary session.
CEF cuts. Another source of potential tensions with other committees is the reduction of the Cohesion Fund budget transferable to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) from €10 billion to €4 billion, which could cause teeth to grind within the Committee on ‘Transport and Tourism’.
The shadow of Brexit. Several MEPs, including Marc Joulaud (EPP, France) and Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, Netherlands), had proposed amending Annex XXII to introduce aid for regions directly affected by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (see EUROPE 12041). The two co-rapporteurs - Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) and Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgaria) - preferred not to open Annex XXII, which concerns the methodology for allocating resources by Member State. A recital has been added instead.
The text will be put to a vote at the February plenary session. Interinstitutional negotiations should start immediately with the Council, which has so far only settled on a partial position (see EUROPE 12163). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)