MEPs on the Committee on Regional Development (REGI), expressed concerns – notably about the timetable, the allocation key and the place reserved at national level in the management of future structural and investment funds – during an exchange with Cohesion and Reform Commissioner Elisa Ferreira on Monday 8 June, while welcoming the measures presented by the Commission to revive the European economy after Covid-19.
Many questioned the timetable, as did Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany), who is also co-rapporteur on the 2021-2027 Common Provisions Regulation, particularly as regards the use of the additional €5 billion provided for under REACT-EU (see EUROPE 12495/3) in the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Ms Krehl wondered about the criteria for distributing funds and the trade-offs to be made between the least developed regions and those most affected by the virus, citing the case of Italy.
For his part, Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgaria), also co-rapporteur on the common provisions regulation, insisted that this time the European Parliament “[does] not have to rush”, so that it could analyse “every aspect” of the proposals, unlike CRII and CRII+ (see EUROPE 12469/5) where the urgency procedure (and therefore without amendment) had been activated.
The MEP hammered home that “real money” and not “virtual money” was needed, criticising the fact that the €50 billion proposed by the Commission is based on the Next Generation EU instrument. In a tweet, the MEP insisted that more money should come from the MFF and less from “European loans”, as the projects financed need predictability and time, he said.
Other MEPs, such as Martina Michels (GUE/NGL, Germany), also questioned the place reserved at national level in the distribution of the envelopes. Others, such as Niklas Nienass (Greens/EFA, Germany), expressed concern about the lack of funds earmarked for the climate component.
Some MEPs, such as Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, France), criticised the excessive flexibility introduced. Erik Bergkvist (S&D, Sweden) said that regions with very low population density, such as the Arctic, should not be forgotten. Action has also been taken to ensure that the outermost regions and islands are better taken into account.
In general, MEPs were concerned about the budget cuts foreseen in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (see EUROPE 12500/19), which takes as its starting point the negotiations between Member States at the beginning of the year.
Lack of stable data
Ms Ferreira explained that it was not possible for the Commission to distribute financial envelopes on the basis of statistical projections. The Commission will wait for the October 2020 figures (GDP, employment, etc.) to break down the envelopes by comparing the evolution of GDP in relation to 2019, unemployment (and in particular youth unemployment), all of which overlap with the relative prosperity of each Member State.
In this context, it specified that the statistics will only be consolidated in October at national level, not regional. It will then be “strongly recommended” that Member States rely on normal regional development programmes, “because that is the basis of the whole thing”, it assured.
Ms Ferreira said she did not understand the reasoning behind the lower budget for cohesion, recalling that REACT-EU was providing €55 billion of “fresh” money and the Just Transition Fund was being increased from €7.5 billion to €40 billion. Ms Ferreira also pointed out that the Commission had made provision for a special allocation of €30 per inhabitant for the outermost regions.
Concluding the exchanges, committee chair Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, France), said that “colleagues’ concerns will be translated into improvements to protect the principles of cohesion”, pointing to important amendments. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)