On Thursday 30 November in Brussels, EU Ministers called for cohesion policy to guarantee more targeted support for less developed regions, and to pay particular attention to the needs of rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps.
This is what emerges from the conclusions adopted by the ‘General Affairs’ Council on the future of cohesion policy.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and the Civil Service, María Jesús Montero, who chaired the EU Council meeting, pointed out that over the period 2021-2027, almost €530,000 million will be made available to all EU countries under cohesion policy, of which 36,245 million will go to Spain, 13% more than in the previous period.
María Jesús Montero told the press that cohesion policy “has been and will continue to be an important pillar of European integration. We must maintain the objective of promoting the harmonious development of all the regions of the EU”.
The Minister acknowledged that cohesion policy must also adapt to the new socio-economic and geopolitical reality facing Europe’s regions. She recalled the results of the informal meeting of EU Ministers held in Murcia in September (see EUROPE 13261/1).
Referring to the conclusions on cohesion policy after 2027 adopted by the EU Council (https://aeur.eu/f/9w3 ), the Spanish Minister said that cohesion policy should pay particular attention to areas and regions that are lagging behind (including rural areas and areas affected by industrial transition). We also need to help regions with specific characteristics, such as island regions, cross-border regions, mountain regions and the outermost regions.
Secondly, the EU Council invites the Commission and the Member States to study how to measure and evaluate the specific needs of the different territories. “Cohesion policy, beyond 2027, should better respond to the needs of development and convergence by taking into account the new challenges facing all countries”, summarised Mrs Montero, referring to demographic and migratory issues, climate change and the ecological and digital transition.
Cohesion policy must become more flexible in its programming to be able to offer aid that is better adapted and more targeted to the needs of each region. “We are committed to finding simplification solutions, including the possibility of developing the principle of a single control or audit, while maintaining the highest standards in terms of preventing and combating fraud and corruption”, insisted Mrs Montero.
Elisa Ferreira, the Commissioner for Cohesion, argued that “without cohesion policy, the single market will not be able to function properly”. She agreed that this cohesion policy needed to become more effective, more targeted, more streamlined and have good governance.
With regard to the contribution of cohesion policy to Europe’s strategic autonomy, €74 billion have been earmarked (2021-2027) to encourage innovation and research.
Effects of EU enlargement. In response to a question from the press on the effects of EU enlargement, Commissioner Ferreira said: “I don’t think Europe can move forward without a strong cohesion policy”. Every time there is an enlargement of Europe or a deepening of the EU, cohesion policy has had to be strengthened. And there’s a simple reason for this: if we don’t, we’ll see fragmentation, which is not good from an economic point of view, defended the Commissioner.
The best example, she believes, is to look at the level of development of the countries that joined the EU during the last enlargement. Their GDP per capita was around 50-55% of the EU average, whereas it is now over 75%. In 2000, Romania’s GDP was 27% of the EU average, and today it is 77%, noted Mrs Ferreira with satisfaction.
“We are trying to see how we can make cohesion policy simpler and more effective, but without introducing the aspect of enlargement yet”, concluded the Commissioner.
Asked whether she considered that the rise of nationalism in Europe could pose a threat to cohesion policy funds, the Spanish Minister stressed that “the European project is a very powerful antidote to populism”. According to Mrs Montero, this populism is a major source of insecurity and inequality, as well as a burden on the development of EU countries and the rest of the world.
For the Spanish Minister, the future enlargement of the EU would be “an opportunity for international security and for strengthening democracies”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)