The European Parliament's request, within the framework of regional and Cohesion Policy, for a series of transitional regulations to facilitate the programming of structural and investment funds for 2021-2027 and to ensure the smoothest possible transition between the two European budget cycles, is not the correct solution for dealing with the current situation. This is according to the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, in an interview with EUROPE at an event in Brussels on Monday 24 February.
“I prefer the true (negotiation) to be finished. I really prefer it”, she told EUROPE. "I think we should all concentrate on getting a deal, otherwise we start having a path that creates some sort of routine and which is then not confirmed” at the end of the negotiations, she explained, adding that current negotiations are “routine”. For Ms Ferreira, the aim is to avoid any “confusion” whatsoever.
By way of reminder, at the beginning of February, the Members of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) sent a letter in which they asked the European Commission to draw up a transit regulation for the Common Provisions Regulation between the Structural and Investment Funds and all the related funds for the year 2021, in line with the example of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) or the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (see EUROPE 12408/11).
The colossal delays in relation to negotiations on the next EU budget, they say, could jeopardise the programming of EU funds during the next round and might lead to funding cuts. Certainly, the N+3 rule would help to smooth out any possible transit difficulties for some programmes. As one source explains, however, the aim is to avoid a "hole" for those programmes that have already used up all the funds by 2020. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)