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Common Provisions Regulation for ERDF, ESF +, the Cohesion Fund, Just Transition Fund, EMFF, Asylum and Migration Fund, Internal Security Fund, Border Management and Visa Instrument

In “An Economy that Works for People”

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For a brief overview of the key points of the adopted text and its significance for the citizen, please see the corresponding summary note.

According to the European Commission, the fragmentation of the rules governing the various EU funds implemented in partnership with the Member States ('shared management') has made the life of the authorities managing programmes complicated and discouraged businesses and entrepreneurs from applying for different sources of EU funding. The rules are overly complex and fragmented between funds and forms of finance, creating an unnecessary burden for programme managers and final beneficiaries. In addition, new policy priorities emerged during the current period 2014-2020 which could not be easily integrated into the existing EU Funds rules. Furthermore, it is not possible to easily achieve synergies between EU funds due to the complicated rules in place.

For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the Commission proposed on 29 May 2018 to modernise Cohesion Policy. The proposal for a Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) set out common provisions for seven shared management funds. Therefore, the single rulebook will cover the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund+, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the Asylum and Migration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument. Additional specific regulations will add certain provisions needed to cater for the particularities of individual funds, in order to take into account their different rationales, target groups and implementation methods. The suggested proposal will not replace the existing Regulation EU No 1303/2013 which will continue to govern the programmes adopted in the 2014-2020 period.

The new Cohesion Policy is expected to focus on five policy objectives instead of the 11 in the current programming period: a smarter Europe through innovation, a greener carbon free Europe, a more connected Europe with strategic transport and digital networks, a more Social Europe, delivering on the European Pillar of Social Rights and supporting quality employment and skills and, lastly, a Europe closer to citizens, with the support of locally-led development strategies and sustainable urban development.

At the European Parliament, the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) took the lead on the file. The draft report was adopted at the REGI Committee meeting on 22 January 2019. Another nine EP Committees gave their opinion on this file. The report was voted at the Plenary Session on 13 February 2019 by a relative majority (460 votes in favour, 170 against, 47 abstentions). It included a number of important amendments to the original Commission proposal. The Commission proposal was examined simultaneously by the Council and the European Parliament. The first trilogue took place on 19 February and focused on organisational issues. The second trilogue was held on 26 February whereas the third trilogue took place on 6 March.

Parliament adopted its position at the second Plenary March 2019 Session reconfirming its support to the report with no additional amendments. The new Parliament which emerged from the May 2019 European elections resumed negotiations on the file. On 3 September 2019, the new committee confirmed the co-rapporteurs which remain the same as in the pre-elections period. The vote on entry into negotiations under Rule 72 took place on 2 October, and the first trilogue took place on 3 October, on block 5 of the proposal. Another trilogue took place on 12 November, on block 2 as well as 10 and 11 December (blocs 1,2,5).

On 14 January 2020, the European Commission presented an amended proposal of the Common Provisions Regulation in order to embed the Just Transition Fund as a new Fund under cohesion policy.

On 21 January 2020, during the meeting of the Committee on Regional Development, its Chair, Younous Omarjee MEP, announced the decision taken by the Committee Coordinators to freeze until the end of February all interinstitutional negotiations with the EU Council on texts that fall within the remit of the Committee. The decision was justified on budget grounds, as the current budget negotiations point to a reduction of funds for Cohesion Policy. In the absence of certainty on the future MFF, no progress has been made.

On 28 May 2020, the European Commission presented an amended CPR proposal which takes into account the new priorities of the COVID-19 epidemic. The proposal includes amongst others, elements of flexibility such as limited transfers and the possibility of implementing temporary measures. On 7th September REGI Committee voted in favour of Commission amendments on the file: COM(2020)0023 in order to make the necessary changes for the new Just Transition Fund and COM(2020)0450  with a number of more in-depth changes in order to take into account the Covid-19 recovery package. On the REGI meeting of 15th October both the Chairs and the Rapporteurs referred to Interinstitutional negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council on the file. Although  progress was made on some technical aspects, certain other issues still remained unresolved. On the REGI meeting of 3rd of December 2020, the Rapporteurs informed Committee Members about the final trilogue compromise on the file. The Rapporteurs mentioned that they managed to achieve some important compromise clauses that were favourable to the Parliament initial positions (e.g. on macroeconomic conditionality, transfer of resources between funds, co-financing rates of different regions).

The REGI committee accepted the outcome of the interinstitutional negotiations on 16 March 2021. The Parliament formally adopted the text in second reading at its June II plenary session. The final act was published in the Official Journal on 30 June 2021.

References:

Further reading:

Author: Agnieszka Widuto, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 20/03/2024.