On Wednesday 25 June, the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development amended the proposal for a mid-term review of the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy by adopting the report by Dragoș Benea (S&D, Romanian), with 26 votes in favour, 10 against and 5 abstentions.
MEPs decided to maintain the new eligible objectives, which include strengthening defence industrial capabilities and military mobility, water resilience, affordable housing, decarbonisation and energy infrastructure. They also agreed to devote part of the funds to the Union’s competitiveness, in particular to the ‘Strategic Technology Platform for Europe’ (STEP), and to grant greater support to the regions bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
MEPs support the more advantageous funding conditions proposed: the possibility of 100% co-financing, 30% pre-financing and a further pay-off of 9.5% of total funding for reallocations to new priorities in 2026, provided that at least 10% (as opposed to 15% in the proposal) of the funds are reallocated.
They want to prioritise dual-use infrastructure (suitable for civilian and military use) when funding the defence industry and military mobility. In addition, they propose to include integrated water management, such as irrigation or desalination, among the possible sources of funding.
On housing, MEPs want to allow funds to support the protection of critical energy infrastructure and civil preparedness infrastructure.
They have updated the rules so that only regions in transition and less developed regions can access the new funding for defence and decarbonisation. Another amended provision specifies that large companies will only be eligible for support if they commit to supporting local employment. In addition, the amendments stipulate that the consent of local and regional authorities is still needed for the transferring of already-planned territorial development funds to other purposes. MEPs specify that these new flexibilities will not apply to cohesion policy funds frozen due to violations of European values or the Rule of law, in accordance with the ‘conditionality’ regulation. At its plenary session from 7 to 11 July, Parliament will decide whether to enter into negotiations with the EU Council (see EUROPE 13662/14). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)