On Wednesday 27 November, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) noted the existence of a qualified majority in favour of a negotiating mandate amending certain elements of the proposal to facilitate the use of cohesion policy funds to help Member States affected by natural disasters (RESTORE proposal).
This proposal is in response to the floods that have affected Central and Eastern Europe. Spain is also counting on the possibilities offered by this text to compensate flood victims (see EUROPE 13528/11).
The proposal amends the regulations on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund and the European Social Fund + (ESF+) for the period 2021-2027.
According to the Council: - the measures will apply to natural disasters occurring between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025 (no end date in the initial text); - the maximum cofinancing rates for RESTORE priorities has been reduced from 100 (in the proposal) to 95% (with Member States contributing the remaining 5%); - in addition to the ERDF and ESF+, the Cohesion Fund can also support measures; - the resources available for reprogramming under RESTORE are capped at 10% of the initial total national allocation for the ERDF and ESF+, the Cohesion Fund being excluded from the reference amount; - the measures benefit from an additional pre-financing rate of 25% (30% in the proposal).
The Hungarian Presidency of the Council will begin negotiations with the European Parliament on this text once Parliament has adopted its position.
To see the Council’s position, go to https://aeur.eu/f/ei7 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)