The proposals of the Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) Croatian rapporteur, Vojko Obersnel (PES), on the Just Transition Fund (JTF) were debated on Tuesday 3 March in the Committee of the Regions' Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy (COTER). Among the many recommendations is the request to reduce the compulsory contribution of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund plus (ESF+) to the new Fund.
The opinion, which is due to be voted on at the plenary session on 25 and 26 March, calls for the initial ERDF and ESF+ allocations for the operational programme to be capped at 20%. On this point, the rapporteur suggests that the managing authorities should be given more flexibility as regards the transfer of resources from these two funds to the JTF, by providing for a reduction in the amount to be transferred, which must be between 0.5 and 3 times the JTF allocation, rather than between 1.5 and 3 times, as proposed by the Commission.
Another important change proposed by the Croatian is to integrate the new fund into Heading 2 on cohesion and values of the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 instead of Heading 3 on Natural Resources and Environment. And to add, once again, that he rejects the cuts in cohesion policy, whether those suggested by the European Commission or those currently being negotiated at the European Council.
Mr Obersnel said it was regrettable that the proposal called for programmes to be implemented at NUTS 3 level instead of NUTS 2, which is "the level at which the main programmes of cohesion policy are implemented". In the rapporteur's view, this proposal "runs counter to the notion of functional areas, which are not necessarily identical to the administrative NUTS 3 areas". Therefore, in any case, only one territorial plan at NUTS 2 level should be required, according to the opinion.
He is also concerned about the possible delay that the creation of this new fund could cause in the programming of the Cohesion Fund, given that financial assistance under the Just Transition Fund is conditional on the granting of ERDF and ESF+ funding - a recurring concern among the regions (see EUROPE 12407/20).
In general, the opinion "takes note" of the European Commission's estimate that the three pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism will result in an investment of €100 billion by 2030. However, he expresses concern about the expected leverage effect and the feasibility of private investment for some of the possible projects.
On the European Parliament's side, legislative work has begun, with an initial debate, despite a conflict between parliamentary committees on the follow-up to the dossier (see EUROPE 12430/13). The vote in the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is scheduled for May or June (see EUROPE 12424/21). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)