Brussels, 04/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 3 May, the Committee of Permanent Representatives approved the political agreement on the “cohesion legislative package” as presented by the Austrian Presidency, which came out of the meeting on 26 April. This political agreement will be formalised without discussion (in point A) at the next meeting of the Council, probably this Friday's Ecofin Council or the General Affairs Council of 15 May. The package was adopted by the EP at its July 2005 plenary session (see EUROPE 8986). It will be submitted for a second reading in the EP and adopted probably in July 2006, said the spokeswoman for Ms Hübner, adding that, as soon as the inter-institutional agreement was achieved, the strategic guidelines for cohesion 2007-2013 could be completed.
The Commission adopted its legislative proposals for the reform of the cohesion policy on 14 July 2004. The new legislative package consists of: (1) a general regulation establishing common arrangements for three sources to finance structural action 2007-2013; (2) a regulation for each of the following - ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund; (3) a new draft regulation on European Cross-Border Cooperation Groupings.