The Chair of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI), Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, France), announced on Tuesday 21 January, in front of the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, the decision taken by the coordinators that very morning to "freeze" until the end of February all interinstitutional negotiations at political level with the EU Council on texts within its remit. In addition, the MEP asked the Commissioner to consider a transitional regulation for 2021 in case negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 stall.
"We have just come, during a meeting of the coordinators, to freeze all political trilogues until the end of February", he said to Elisa Ferreira, who was addressing the REGI Committee for the first time.
"We expect the European Council to adopt a budget that is in line with what is at stake and that does not sacrifice cohesion policy", continued Mr Omarjee. He pointed to the fact that the EU Council has put a number of sections of the various regulations to one side in the discussions on the MFF. "We have the responsibility to negotiate them", he insisted, saying that these articles "do not belong in the negotiating box".
The REGI Committee also calls for a transitional regulation to be drawn up for the Structural and Investment Funds for the year 2021, along the lines of what has been requested for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) or the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF).
During their interventions, the REGI coordinators did not hide their deep concern about the turn in negotiations on the MFF, in particular the two co-rapporteurs on the common provisions regulation between the structural and investment funds, Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgaria) and Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany).
For the latter, the situation seems more problematic than in previous budget negotiations, which had already led to a general delay in the implementation of the funds.
While sharing the concern of the MEPs, Mrs Ferreira received a terse and ambiguous response to both the decision and the request of the MEPs. Replying to Stéphane Bijoux (Renew Europe, France), the Commissioner reiterated that she wanted to "go fast" on the different regulations. She questioned whether incorporating a transitional regulation was not a "suboptimal" decision. For her, there is a risk that the negotiations may not be "very active", on the grounds that there are these transitional solutions.
In general, MEPs reiterated their dissatisfaction with the Finnish proposals of December, which provide for a general budgetary reduction in the Multiannual Financial Framework.
Debate on the Just Transition Fund
Other MEPs, such as Niklas Nienass (Greens/EFA, Germany), expressed concern about the small budget foreseen for the Just Transition Fund (€7.5 billion) and the overlap of its competences with priorities of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus, which will be systematically solicited to support the actions of the Fund (see EUROPE 12403/2).
Some, like Raffaele Fitto (ECR, Italy), questioned the methodology used to break down the Fund's financing. He said he was surprised by the low allocation for Italy (see EUROPE 12404/12), despite the fact that his country employs many coal-fired power stations and hosts one of the largest steel mills in Europe.
Other MEPs, such as Francesca Donato (ID, Italy), expressed their wish to reform State Aid rules and the Budget Pact for the euro area. On the latter point, the Commissioner seemed to recognise the sound foundation of such proposals, before passing the buck to her colleagues, Margrethe Vestager (competition) and Paolo Gentiloni (economy) respectively. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)