The European Commissioner for Cohesion Policy, Elisa Ferreira, clarified on Tuesday 18 October how the 2014-2020 cohesion funds will contribute to the financing of REPowerEU to support SMEs, vulnerable households and the self-employed (see EUROPE 13043/13). A new emergency measure which is part of the European Commission’s proposals to tackle energy prices and ensure security of supply, and which was presented the same day (see EUROPE 13045/1).
This new flexibility in cohesion policy operates on similar mechanisms to those deployed in the context of the Ukrainian refugee crisis (CARE, FAST-CARE) and the pandemic (CRII). In total, its budget could amount to €40 billion.
In concrete terms, Member States will be able to transfer the remaining amounts - up to 10% of the total national allocation - of the 2014-2020 cohesion policy between the ERDF, the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund. As was the case for CRII, countries and regions will be able to apply a 100% cofinancing rate.
These additional resources will be aimed at supporting SMEs, the self-employed and vulnerable households and can be used in all categories of regions (more developed, transition, less developed). Finally, expenditure incurred from 1 February 2022 onwards and completed operations will be eligible.
MEP Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, French), chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI), welcomed the Commission’s proposal. It does in fact take up REGI’s opinion on REPowerEU (see EUROPE 13038/10) and responds to concerns that cohesion policy is being distorted (see EUROPE 13040/30). “Not all countries have the means to put billions of euros on the table, as Germany or France have done. [...] It is the duty of cohesion not to allow the distortions between the economies of the Union and at the social level to increase”, he said at a press conference. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)