The European Parliament negotiating group, led by Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany) and Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgaria), and the Finnish EU Council Presidency made progress on the Common Provisions Regulation between the structural and investment funds on Wednesday evening, 27 November. They should meet one last time on 4 December to complete the three blocks to start the work related to the programming of the funds.
Ahead of the meeting, the Presidency sent a counter-proposal to the “package” of proposals made by the Parliament, which had rather dissatisfied the national delegations (see EUROPE 12374/13).
In its proposals, seen by EUROPE, the Presidency accepted the European Parliament’s suggestions that the partnership agreement should apply to all Member States, but on condition that its content was made lighter. This point has reportedly been agreed between the two co-legislators at Wednesday’s meeting. Discussions have focused in particular on the degree of simplification of partnerships, with the Presidency suggesting that partnership agreements should not exceed 35 pages.
The EU Council has also compromised on the principle of e-Cohesion, an electronic system for exchanging data between beneficiaries and the authorities responsible for the programmes. The Commission, like the European Parliament, wanted this system to become mandatory. The Member States, led by Germany and Austria, wanted to make this system voluntary instead. In the end, the option chosen would, as is often the case, be an in-between: a voluntary system, initially, which will eventually become mandatory.
In return, the European Parliament made concessions to the EU Council on horizontal principles, in particular on the section dedicated to environmental protection and the fight against climate change, which the EU Council wants to delete. The European Parliament has also reportedly accepted the EU Council’s modalities for the mid-term review (see EUROPE 12150/5). Thus, only 50% of the available funds could be reprogrammed for the last 2 years of the multiannual financial framework. Finally, as a further concession to the Member States, Parliament have reportedly agreed to not apply the simplified costs in technical assistance proposed by the Commission. In addition, the so-called “Home” funds would have remained outside the partnership agreements, at the request of the Member States.
Two main points remain open and would concern the modalities for public procurement and enabling conditions related to environmental and climate issues.
Negotiations will resume at the technical level on Friday 29 November. A new negotiation meeting would be scheduled for 4 December. “We see the light at the end of the tunnel”, one relieved source says breathlessly. Indeed, the negotiations, which in no way concern the financial aspects of cohesion policy, were difficult, in particular with an abrupt end to the talks between Parliament and the EU Council earlier this year, at the request of the Member States (see EUROPE 12210/6). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)