European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis clearly rejected any possibility of a transitional solution between the two Multiannual Financial Frameworks (MFFs) for cohesion policy, in a debate with MEPs from the Regional Development Committee (REGI) on Monday 20 April.
Despite insistent requests from several MEPs during the videoconference debate, including heavyweights such as Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), co-rapporteur on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, or Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany), co-rapporteur on the next Cohesion Policy umbrella regulation, the Commission does not seem to be moving on this issue compared to last February (see EUROPE 12432/10).
Mr Dombrovskis explained that the European Commission's objective was still to have an agreement on the next Multiannual Financial Framework before 2021. According to him, the goal of his institution is to avoid any investment gap in national budgets in the first years of the next MFF. For this reason, he explained, the Commission services are currently working closely with the national and managing authorities to ensure that the new operational programmes are prepared and approved as soon as possible after the adoption of the MFF.
Mr Dombrovskis gave some indication of the new cohesion policy proposals due to be presented by the end of the month. He stressed that the Commission's priority was to "strengthen" cohesion policy in the framework of the next European budget, not to weaken it. Responding to many fears expressed by some MEPs in light of the proposals made in the framework of the CRII+ (which gives the possibility to transfer unspent funds for the least developed regions to the most developed ones - (see EUROPE 12460/3), the Vice-President especially guaranteed that under no circumstances will the proposals be to the detriment of the regions or the poorest Member States.
In particular, he mentioned the addition of an element of flexibility with the possibility of concentrating the Structural Funds at the beginning of the period. The Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, who was also present at the debate, pointed out that the flexibilities already largely existed in the proposals currently presented (see EUROPE 12388/17) and that the two priorities would remain the greening and digitisation of European territories. In her view, one must stick to the DNA of cohesion policy: fighting against territorial disparities, especially within the euro area.
In this context, she claimed that the Commission's current proposals already contained sufficient room for manoeuvre with the proposal for a mid-term review in the context of the future Multiannual Financial Framework. Revisions of allocations and priorities according to territories could thus be undertaken, in her view, on the basis of statistics renewed at mid-term.
In general, Mr Dombrovskis said that the Commission's strategy was to present a revised and upgraded Multiannual Financial Framework and a new recovery fund (the name of which is still to be defined), he said. This stimulus fund would be financed through the markets. He guaranteed that the Green Deal would remain at the centre of the matrix for the next budget cycle, but insisted that it was important to also take into account the concrete needs of European citizens. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)