Legislative Train Schedule
European Parliament
Please fill in this field to search

Proposal for a regulation on the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) supported by the European Regional Development Fund and external financing instruments

In “An Economy that Works for People”

PDF version

On 29 May 2018, the European Commission published the legislative proposals defining the architecture of EU cohesion policy post-2020, including a proposal for European territorial cooperation (ETC) programmes (‘Interreg’).

The main novelties under the proposed ETC Regulation include:

  • a shift from three to five cooperation strands (components)
  • the incorporation of cooperation outside the EU;
  • the definition of two additional Interreg-specific objectives, one to support strengthening institutional capacity and enhancing legal and administrative cooperation (‘A better Interreg governance’), the other to address specific external cooperation issues such as safety, security, border crossing management and migration (‘A safer and more secure Europe’);
  • the introduction of specific provisions for small project funds;
  • the introduction of a common set of result indicators for Interreg programmes.

The proposals for cohesion policy post-2020 foresee a decrease in the ETC budget, with its share falling to 2.5% of the total resources available for cohesion policy funds for the whole period. In line with the changes in the ETC architecture, the ETC Regulation redistributes resources between the different cooperation components. The share for cross-border cooperation is reduced, with an increase in the share for transnational cooperation and maritime cooperation. The EC also proposes a reduction of the ERDF co-financing rate for Interreg programmes (from up to 85% in 2014-2020 to 70% maximum in the period post-2020).

The proposed Regulation is being examined simultaneously by the Council and the European Parliament. At Council, the Working Party on Structural Measures (SMWP) is examining this file. On 29 May 2019, Coreper agreed the partial mandate for negotiations with the EP on the Interreg Regulation. The text establishes four strands of European territorial cooperation: (A) cross-border cooperation, which covers both land and maritime border regions, (B) trans-national cooperation, (C) interregional cooperation, comprising four specific programmes (Interreg Europe, URBACT, INTERACT, ESPON) and (D) outermost regions' cooperation, with Interregional innovation investments not included in the partial mandate.

At the EP, the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) is responsible for the file. The REGI Committee adopted its report on 3 December 2018. The text raises the 2021-2027 ETC budget to €11.16 billion (in 2018 prices), i.e. to 3% of the overall envelope available for economic, social and territorial cohesion, and lifts the ERDF co-financing rate for Interreg programmes from the proposed 70% up to 80%. It provides for the reintegration of cooperation on maritime borders into the cross-border cooperation component and modifies the proposed distribution of support between the various cooperation strands, allocating 67.16% of the budget to cross-border cooperation. It  also introduces more flexibility in thematic concentration (easing of the obligation to spend 15% of the budget on one of the two Interreg-specific objectives; more flexibility for programmes supporting a macro-regional or sea-basin strategy).

The report was voted and adopted at the EP's plenary session on 16 January 2019 (570 votes in favour, 80 votes against, 25 abstentions). The matter was referred back for interinstitutional negotiations to the committee responsible, pursuant to Rule 59(4), fourth subparagraph. Parliament subsequently adopted its position at first reading during its plenary session on 26 March 2019, providing the basis for its future negotiations with the Council. On 3 September 2019, the REGI committee confirmed Pascal Arimont (EPP) as rapporteur. On 2 October 2019, the committee decided to open interinstitutional negotiations after 1st reading in Parliament, pursuant to Rule 72. On the basis of the Conference of Presidents' decision of 16 October 2019, the EP decided to continue work on this file in the new 2019-2024 term. 

Inter-institutional negotiations began under the Finnish presidency and continued under the Croatian and German presidencies, comprising a total of 13 technical meetings and four trilogues. At its special meeting of 17-21 July 2020, the European Council agreed that the resources for Interreg should amount to €7.95 billion and increased the maximum co-financing rate for Interreg programmes to 80%. In response, the EP resolution of 23 July 2020 warned that the MFF cuts go against the EU’s objectives.

Agreement was reached on the final compromise text at the fourth trilogue meeting on 2 December 2020. Total resources for Interreg will amount to €8.05 billion, distributed as follows: €5.812 billion for maritime and land cross-border cooperation, €1.466 billion for transnational cooperation, €490 million for interregional cooperation and €281.21 million for outermost regions cooperation. Compared with the original EC proposal, the final compromise text has increased resources allocated to cross-border cooperation, outermost regions cooperation and interregional cooperation, and raised the maximum co-financing rate for Interreg programmes to 80% (85% in the case of outermost regions cooperation). It also increased the amount that may be allocated under Interreg programmes to small project funds from 15% to 20% and the amount of pre-financing for Interreg programmes, from 1% to 3% each year from 2023.The compromise text was broadly welcomed by delegations at the Structural Measures Working Party of 7 December 2020, with the Council adopting its first reading position on the file on 19 May 2021. The compromise text was approved by the EP's REGI committee at its meeting on 18 December 2020 and Parliament formally adopted the text in second reading at its June II plenary session. The final act was signed on 24 June 2021 and published in the Official Journal on 30 June 2021.

 

References:

Further reading:

Author: Christiaan van Lierop, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 15/12/2024.