Brussels, 16/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Michel Barnier had harsh words on Wednesday for the expert report to be presented on Thursday on the reform of economic and financial perspectives. The report's "conclusions" are "nonsensical", and for region policy "unreal, they take no account of this policy, its usefulness, its ability to evolve", he told a press conference. At a seminar on the forthcoming financial perspectives of the EU (2007-2013) on Sunday, President Prodi gave Commissioners a copy of the report, which was written by a group of experts headed by Professor André Sapir. Visibly irritated by the report's contents, Commissioner Barnier said that he had himself presented a report on revision of the cohesion policy to Sunday's Commission seminar.
The Commissioner for Regional Policy is against the radical calling into question of cohesion policy. The experts' report, which is quite close to the British proposals on cohesion policy (EUROPE of 7 March), proposes re-nationalising this policy, reserving it almost exclusively for the new Member States and based on a blank cheque system, with no European directive or controls, indicates a Community source.
The report comes just as the debate on the future cohesion policy (2007-2013) is taking on new importance. At the end of the year, the European Commission is to present proposals for the future of this policy, in a third cohesion report which it will approve on Commissioner Barnier's proposal.