EU ministers responsible for cohesion policy will meet on Tuesday 18 May via video conference to discuss ways to maximise synergies and complementarities between cohesion policy and national recovery and resilience plans.
In its framework note, the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council states that the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) comprises ‘pillars’ supporting economic, social and territorial cohesion. Member States are thus required to foster synergies and promote close coordination between the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) and cohesion policy programming.
In practice, however, cohesion does not seem to be the main objective of the national recovery and resilience plans, it says, for a variety of reasons (scale of investment, eligibility, timing and absorption capacity). One of the sticking points is that some investments are financed under the Facility in the first part of the programming period, and under Cohesion Policy thereafter.
This poses problems in terms of absorption, with Member States questioning whether it is easier to absorb funds according to the criteria related to the implementation of the objectives in the context of the Facility as compared to the traditional methodology of Cohesion Policy.
The prioritisation of national effort under the Facility risks reducing the effectiveness of programming and implementation of 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy funding.
This could potentially lead to further delays and absorption difficulties within the cohesion policy resources.
Thus, the Portuguese Presidency is asking Ministers to determine both how the Facility and Cohesion Policy can best contribute jointly to economic, social and territorial cohesion, and how synergies and complementarities between the National Recovery and Resilience Plans and Cohesion Policy can be maximised at the operational level.
To consult the framework note: https://bit.ly/3tODcW1 (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)