On Thursday 5 February, the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) approved four draft opinions on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034 (see EUROPE 13782/14). It opposed budget cuts and the exclusion of regions and cities from the decision-making process in favour of national governments (see EUROPE 13796/19).
The four opinions concern the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Performance Framework and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
The members of the COTER Commission stressed the importance of the partnership principle, multi-level governance and its long-term approach, through the involvement of local and regional authorities. They proposed a user manual and the evaluation of multi-level governance in order to oblige Member States to involve these sub-national authorities in the design of NRPPs, while respecting countries’ individual constitutional structures. They also called for the introduction of a ‘subsidiarity clause’, which empowers regions to ask the European Commission to reject plans if they are too nationalised.
The members of the COTER Commission opposed the idea that the NRPP should become a ‘single pot of money’ available to Member States. They proposed referring to the various funds and clearly allocating resources to them.
In addition, in order to increase transparency and accountability, members called for a simplification of the indicators currently used to monitor the effectiveness of EU spending. This simplification would be accompanied by strong safeguards to ensure that improving territorial cohesion remains a key priority.
Members did not support the initial proposal for a funding system based on the achievement of objectives rather than the reimbursement of expenses, but wish to prevent possible confusion in the future, because this new system may lead to complexity with a risk of increasing red tape and controls. That is why have urged the European Commission to provide EU-wide training and technical assistance to public officials who will be required to implement the new performance framework.
Finally, with regard to the ‘CEF’, the COTER Commission welcomed the substantial increase in funding for military mobility and its designation as a specific priority. However, they stressed that dual-use investment in military mobility must bring civilian co-benefits, particularly for regional connectivity and resilience.
The draft opinions still have to be adopted by the CoR as a whole at its plenary session in May.
Read the draft opinion on the NRPP: https://aeur.eu/f/klz
Read the draft opinion on the ERDF: https://aeur.eu/f/km0
Read the draft opinion on the performance framework: https://aeur.eu/f/km1
Read the draft opinion on the CEF: https://aeur.eu/f/km2 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)