Following three inter-institutional meetings (trilogues), the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached agreement on Wednesday 18 November on the REACT-EU Regulation, the first agreement in the Next Generation EU framework to tackle the consequences of the coronavirus.
"The negotiations have been exemplary", said Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, France), chairman of the European Parliament Regional Development Committee (REGI), at a press briefing, saying that the institutions had risen to the occasion in the face of "the poverty that has exploded all over Europe and (to) start the recovery".
The EPP co-rapporteur, Andrey Novakov (Bulgaria), noted some main principles: the possibility of retroactively financing all projects up to 1 February 2020 (a proposal which was not included in the Commission's original proposal - see EUROPE 12495/3) and the possibility of committing funding to projects until 2023 (as opposed to 2022 in the European Commission's proposal). He also indicated that the Commission will have only 15 days to approve the funds.
Continuing the major simplifications already introduced in the emergency Coronavirus response initiatives CRII and CRII+, it will not be necessary to create new programmes in order to use the available funds, he said.
Co-rapporteur Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany), stressed that the regulation will have a strong social component: young people, the self-employed and employees will be able to benefit from temporary arrangements due to the pandemic. She also highlighted that border regions will be able to benefit from the funds.
Member States will in fact be able to allocate part of the additional resources to the European Social Fund, the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the Youth Employment Initiative as well as cross-border programmes (Interreg). Finally, the German MEP emphasised the focus on the green transition.
The Commission did introduce 25% earmarked for climate change funds during the negotiations. The institution wanted to introduce it into the body of the regulation, but the co-legislators took a position against it, because REACT-EU is above all an operational instrument and not a structural one. However, the co-legislators agreed to mention the 25% target in a recital.
The budget also falls short of the €55 billion initially desired by the European Commission. The envelope will be €47.5 billion: €37.5 billion for 2021 (with a pre-financing rate of 11%) and €10 billion for 2022. It should be noted that, in accordance with the July European Council decision, the proposal to revise the financial framework for 2014-2020 to free up €5 billion is no longer included in the text. The decision on the use of the envelopes will be taken at Member State level and not at regional level.
However, all eyes have once again turned to the Member States and the current deadlock on the agreement reached on the next multiannual financial framework and the Recovery Plan to finally clear the way for the implementation of the Regulation.
Replying to EUROPE, the Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform, Elisa Ferreira, pointed out that there was no "Plan B" and that an agreement was necessary.
For its part, the German Council Presidency hoped that the agreement on REACT-EU would send a positive message to EU leaders. Mr Omarjee noted on this matter that Hungary and Poland (the two States blocking the agreement) were significant beneficiaries, implying that they were working heavily against their own interests.
The agreement should be finally adopted by mid-December at the latest, the co-legislators hope.
To consult the last four-column table: https://bit.ly/3nBSv1k (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)