During the mini-plenary session on Thursday 24 March, the European Parliament voted almost unanimously (562 votes in favour, 2 against, 3 abstentions), under an urgency procedure, on the CARE initiative, which aims to support the regions hit by the influx of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.
“I am moved and proud to have been supported by my colleagues who, without reservation or reluctance, voted for the proposal I was defending on behalf of the European Parliament to proclaim that slavery is a crime against humanity”, said Younous Omarjee (The Left, France), and Chair of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI), on his Twitter account.
By way of reminder, this initiative introduces flexibility into the framework of the 2014–2020 cohesion policy, notably for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), the extension of the 100% co-financing laid out under the CRII+ initiative to mitigate the consequences, and flexibilities in the framework of REACT-EU (see EUROPE 12906/6).
It is now up to the EU Council to adopt the text so that it can enter into force as soon as possible. The Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, expects an entry into force on 9 April. “Of course, this is a provisional date”, she added.
The day before, the European Commission adopted a new package of measures, CARE+, to provide even greater flexibility in the structural and cohesion funds 2014–2020 (see other news). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)