COTER-VI
Bruxelles, le 17 septembre 2015
PROCÈS-VERBAL
de la 4e réunion
de la commission de la politique de cohésion territoriale et du budget de l'UE
tenue à Bruxelles, au siège du Comité
le 13 juillet 2015
_____________
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 1/19
— Rue Belliard 101 — 1040 BRUXELLES — BELGIQUE —
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FR
La commission de la politique de cohésion territoriale et du budget de l'UE a tenu sa 4 e réunion à
Bruxelles, le lundi 13 juillet 2015, de 11 h 00 à 17 h 10.
LISTE DE PRÉSENCE
Président:
M. Raffaele CATTANEO (IT/PPE)
Membres présents (54)
ADAMOWICZ Paweł (PL/PPE)
BÓKA István (HU/PPE)
BRIGHT Robert (UK/PSE)
CONWAY-WALSH Rose (IE/NI)
DUNGER-LÖPER Hella (DE/PSE)
DURDU Agnès (LU/ADLE)
FARRUGIA Paul (MT/PSE)
FRIEDRICH Peter (DE/PSE)
GRUBLIAUSKAS Vytautas (LT/ADLE)
HRISTOVA Tanya (BG/PPE)
KAES Ali (LU/PPE)
KEYMER Gordon (UK/ECR)
KOURAKIS Ioannis (EL/PSE)
LEBRUN Michel (BE/PPE)
MADSEN Henrik Ringbæk (DK/PSE)
MARTIKAINEN Ossi (FI/ADLE)
NICA Alin Adrian (RO/PPE)
PŮTA Martin (CZ/PPE)
RIBAU ESTEVES José (PT/PPE)
SCHNEIDER Michael (DE/PPE)
SOULAGE Bernard (FR/PSE)
ŠTROMAR Predrag (HR/ADLE)
TRUSKOLASKI Tadeusz (PL/AE)
VAN DEN BRANDE Luc (BE/PPE)
VERKERK Bas (NL/ADLE)
WALSMANN Marion (DE/PPE)
ZACHARIAŠ István (SK/PPE)
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 2/19
AZZOPARDI Samuel (MT/PPE)
BORE Albert (UK/PSE)
CARLEFALL LANDERGREN Ulrika (SE/ADLE)
DOBROSLAVIĆ Nikola (HR/PPE)
DUPPRÉ Hans-Jörg (DE/PPE)
FANELLI Micaela (IT/PSE)
FREEHILL Mary (IE/PSE)
GORDON Robert Ian Neilson (UK/ECR)
HAIJANEN Pauliina (FI/PPE)
JUHKAMI Mihkel (EE/PPE)
KANEVIČIUS Vytautas (LT/ECR)
KNAPE Anders (SE/PPE)
KUPČINSKAS Andrius (LT/PPE)
LOUKAIDOU Eleni (CY/PPE)
MAGYAR Anna (HU/PPE)
McCARTHY Kieran (IE/AE)
OSVALD Petr (CZ/PSE)
RIBÁNYI József (HU/PPE)
SALCEVIČS Leonīds (LV/ADLE)
SILBERG Uno (EE/AE)
SPYRIDON Spyros (EL/PPE)
SZWABSKI Stanisław (PL/AE)
TURLAIS Dainis (LV/ADLE)
VAN OVERMEIRE Karim (BE/AE)
VLASÁK Oldřich (CZ/ECR)
WOŹNIAK Marek (PL/PPE)
ZRIHEN Olga (BE/PSE)
Suppléants présents (29)
PREVEZANOS Dimitrios (EL/PPE)
pour AGORASTOS Konstantinos
SCHMIDT ANDERSEN John (DK/ADLE)
pour BØDKER ANDERSEN Per
MAXWELL Stewart (UK/AE)
pour CUMMINGS Trevor
ROUILLON Christophe (FR/PSE)
pour DECOSTER François
LÄNTS Randel (EE/PSE)
pour GEWERC Claude
KALOGEROPOULOS Dimitrios (EL/PPE)
pour KATSIFARAS Apostolos
ROSSIGNOL Christophe (FR/PSE)
pour MANGIN Pascal
NAIDENOV Emil (BG/PSE)
pour MIREV Krasimir
HUDDART Doreen (UK/ADLE)
pour PEEL Kevin
STAVRINIDES Stavros (CY/PSE)
pour PITTAS Charalambos
RÖNNMARK Marie-Louise (SE/PSE)
pour REEPALU Ilmar
MACEDONI Gregor (SI/NI)
pour SMRDELJ Robert
BANASZAK Adam (PL/ECR)
pour STRUK Mieczysław
ANSIŅŠ Gunārs (LV/ADLE)
pour VĪTOLIŅŠ Jānis
BRANDA Pavel (CZ/ECR)
pour ZIMOLA Jiří
ALASIA Sanchia (UK/PSE)
pour ALAMBRITIS Stephen
ROBINSON Gary (UK/AE)
pour BUCHANAN Anthony Gerard
BESOZZI Matteo (IT/PSE)
pour D'ALFONSO Luciano
RIES Isolde (DE/PSE)
pour DUDEN Barbara
MÄKYNEN Matias (FI/PSE)
pour KARJALAINEN Anne
HRISTOVA Tanya (BG/PPE)
pour KISSIOV Vladimir
ABRAMAVIČIUS Arnoldas (LT/PPE)
pour MERK Beate
AUDOIN Malina Edreva (BG/PPE)
pour NIKOLOVA Detelina
QVIST Henrik (DK/PSE)
pour PERERA CHRISTENSEN Marc
KOKALJ Anton (SI/PPE)
pour POTOČNIK Andreja
FIDANZA Carlo (IT/NI)
pour ROLLANDIN Augusto
CAŁBECKI Piotr (PL/PPE)
pour STĘPIEŃ Witold
SIMON Gábor (HU/NI)
pour VARGA Zoltán
LEDINEK Branko (SI/PPE)
pour ŽAGAR Ivan
Direction des travaux consultatifs
Michael COLLINS, directeur adjoint
Marie-Claire NEILL-COWPER, chef d'unité
Marek BOBIŠ, secrétariat de la commission COTER
Fabian GAL, secrétariat de la commission COTER
Oliver HEIDEN, secrétariat de la commission COTER
Gordon MODRO, secrétariat de la commission COTER
Secrétariats des groupes politiques
Grigor ASENOV
Aliona FORNEA
Endrik MARFIA
Petr MUSIAL
Marc-Fabian NAETHER
PPE
PSE
AE
ECR
ADLE
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Commission européenne (CE)
Nadia CALVIÑO, directrice générale de la DG Budget de la Commission européenne
Philippe BERTRAND, unité A 1, DG BUDG, Commission européenne
Thomas DE BÉTHUNE, unité DGA1.B.3, DG REGIO, Commission européenne
Benjamin BARETS, unité DGA1.01, DG REGIO, Commission européenne
Parlement européen (PE)
Iskra MIHAYLOVA, présidente de la commission du développement régional (REGI), Parlement
européen
José Manuel FERNANDES, rapporteur du rapport relatif au mandat pour le trilogue sur le projet de
budget 2016, membre de la commission des budgets du Parlement européen
Banque européenne d'investissement (BEI)
Björn GABRIEL, département des services consultatifs à la Banque européenne d’investissement
Intervenants
Iskra MIHAYLOVA (Parlement européen), sur le point 5
Thomas DE BÉTHUNE (Commission européenne), sur le point 6
Björn GABRIEL (Banque européenne d'investissement), sur le point 6
Nadia CALVIÑO (Commission européenne), sur le point 7
José Manuel FERNANDES, sur le point 8
Philippe BERTRAND (Commission européenne), sur le point 8
Iain BEGG (London School of Economics), sur le point 9
*
*
1.
*
Adoption du projet d'ordre du jour (COR-2015-02063-00-02-CONVPOJ)
Le projet d'ordre du jour est adopté. Pour des raisons de gestion du temps, les points 3 et 4.6 de
l'ordre du jour sont déplacés à la fin de la réunion.
2.
Adoption du procès-verbal de la 3e réunion (COR-2015-02776-00-00-PV-TRA)
Le projet de procès-verbal est adopté.
3.
Communication du président de la commission COTER
Ce point de l'ordre du jour est traité à la fin de la réunion.
Le président de la commission COTER, M. CATTANEO, informe les membres de la
commission COTER que la réunion REGI-COTER de cette année aura lieu lors des Open
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 4/19
Days, le 13 octobre 2015, de 9 heures à 10 h 30. Cette réunion donnera aux membres des
commissions REGI et COTER l'occasion de dresser un bilan de l'application des principes de
partenariat et de gouvernance à multiniveaux dans l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre des accords
de coopération et des programmes opérationnels et d'examiner les possibilités et les défis que
présente l'utilisation des instruments financiers dans le cadre de la politique de cohésion, ainsi
que les synergies avec le plan d'investissement pour l'Europe et le Fonds européen pour les
investissements stratégiques.
En outre, le président rappelle aux membres de la commission COTER que celle-ci organisera
son séminaire intitulé «Défis actuels pour les régions transfrontalières en Europe» à Liberec, en
République tchèque, le jeudi 17 septembre 2015. Il informe également les membres de sa
participation au 61e congrès et exposition de l'Union internationale des transports publics
(UITP).
Il annonce qu'une lettre a été envoyée aux membres pour les inviter à soumettre des
propositions en vue de l'organisation d'activités extérieures par la commission COTER en 2016.
Le délai de présentation de propositions est fixé au 10 septembre 2015. M. VERKERK
(NL/ADLE) prend la parole pour informer de son intention de soumettre une proposition
d'organisation d'une manifestation COTER en 2016, dans le cadre de la présidence
néerlandaise.
Le président informe également les membres sur les points suivants: l'ouverture d'un sondage
concernant les thèmes prioritaires de la politique urbaine de l'UE; la création d'un groupe
interrégional sur la coopération transfrontalière; et le fait que l'étude «GECT - Rapport de suivi
2014» soit disponible.
Il informe les membres de la commission COTER que la Commission européenne a créé un
groupe de haut niveau sur la simplification, pour lequel un appel à la participation d'experts a
été lancé récemment. Il signale qu'un dépliant intitulé Challenges ahead («Défis pour
l'avenir»), élaboré par la DG REGIO de la Commission européenne, est à disposition des
membres à l'entrée de la salle de réunion.
Enfin, le président souligne à l'intention des membres de la commission COTER que le nouvel
organigramme du CdR prendra effet à compter du 16 juillet. Il remercie Mme KUDLINSKA et
M. COLLINS pour leur soutien et souhaite bonne chance au futur directeur, M. Thomas
WOBBEN, ainsi qu'à la directrice adjointe, Mme Béatrice TAULEGNE.
4.
Organisation des futurs travaux de la commission
Pour décision:
4.1
Avis sur la base de consultations (art. 41, point a) du règlement intérieur)
Il n'y a pas de dossiers d'avis en vertu de l'article 41, point a).
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 5/19
4.2
Avis d'initiative (art. 41, point b) i) du règlement intérieur)
a) Eu égard au calendrier interinstitutionnel, la commission COTER suggère de demander au
président de désigner M. Nikola DOBROSLAVIĆ (Croatie, PPE) rapporteur général du
dossier intitulé «Renforcement de la coopération transfrontalière: la nécessité d'un cadre
réglementaire» (saisine de la présidence luxembourgeoise; le titre exact sera confirmé par la
présidence).
b) La commission COTER désigne M. Oldřich VLASÁK (République tchèque, ECR)
rapporteur du dossier sur le thème «Une vision territoriale pour 2050: quel avenir?» (saisine de
la présidence luxembourgeoise).
4.3
Avis d’initiative (art. 41, point b) ii)) et art. 44 du règlement intérieur)
c) La commission COTER désigne Mme Catiuscia MARINI (Italie, PSE) rapporteure du
dossier sur le thème «Indicateurs de développement territorial – au-delà du PIB».
La proposition sera transmise au Bureau pour décision finale le 2 septembre 2015.
4.4
Renonciations
Aucun dossier ne fait l'objet d'une renonciation.
4.5
Programme des travaux en cours et décision du président concernant les attributions
Le programme des travaux en cours est adopté. (COR-2015-00483-00-05-TCD)
Pour débat:
4.6
Suivi des avis
Ce point de l'ordre du jour est traité à la fin de la réunion.
Le président annonce que le programme des travaux en cours a été envoyé aux membres
préalablement à la réunion.
Le président fait une brève déclaration concernant les actions de suivi et les retombées
obtenues, s'agissant de l'avis intitulé Plan d'investissement et Fonds européen pour les
investissements stratégiques (COTER-VI/003), en l'absence du rapporteur général de celui-ci,
M. GEWERC (France, PSE).
5.
Intervention de Mme Iskra MIHAYLOVA, présidente de la commission du développement
régional du Parlement européen (REGI), et débat
Mme Iskra MIHAYLOVA, présidente de la commission REGI du Parlement européen, donne un
aperçu des priorités et activités politiques de sa commission et débat avec les membres de la
commission COTER des thèmes de coopération actuels et à venir. Il s'ensuit un débat avec les
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 6/19
membres de la commission COTER. Il est convenu de renforcer encore la coopération, déjà
excellente. L'ANNEXE I présente un compte rendu de ce point.
6.
Avis sur Les instruments financiers en faveur du développement territorial
(COR-2015-01772-00-00-PA – COTER-VI-005)
Rapporteur: M. Adam STRUZIK (PL/PPE), avis d'initiative (en vertu de l'article 41,
point b), ii), et de l'article 44, du règlement intérieur)
 Présentation du projet d'avis par le rapporteur.
 Intervention de M. Thomas DE BÉTHUNE, DG REGIO, Commission européenne
 Intervention de M. Björn GABRIEL, Banque européenne d’investissement
 Première discussion du projet d'avis avec les membres.
Sur ce texte ont été déposés 26 amendements et 3 amendements du rapporteur. Ils sont traités
comme suit:
Amendements adoptés: 21 (1R, 3R, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10R, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,
25, 26)
Amendements devenus caducs: 3 (1, 3, 10)
Amendements retirés: 1 (n° 3)
L'avis est mis aux voix et adopté à la majorité. Il sera présenté pour adoption lors de la session
plénière du 12 au 14 octobre 2015.
7.
Intervention de Mme Nadia CALVIÑO, directrice générale de la DG Budget de la
Commission européenne, et débat
Mme Nadia CALVIÑO, directrice générale pour le budget à la Commission européenne,
présente la proposition de la Commission européenne concernant le budget 2016 de l'UE, ainsi
que des éléments plus généraux sur le lien entre le budget de l'UE et les collectivités locales et
régionales. Il s'ensuit un débat avec les membres de la commission COTER. L'ANNEXE II
présente un compte rendu de ce point.
8.
Avis sur Le projet de budget général de l’Union européenne pour l’exercice 2016 (COR-201503219-00-00-DT – COTER-VI-006) -Avis d'initiative (en vertu de l'article 41, point b), i) du
règlement intérieur)
Rapporteur: M. Uno SILBERG (EE/AE)
 Présentation du document de travail par le rapporteur.
 Intervention de M. Philippe BERTRAND, DG BUDG, Commission européenne
 Intervention de M. José Manuel FERNANDES, membre de la commission des budgets du
Parlement européen
 Débat exploratoire avec les membres.
Il sera présenté pour adoption lors de la session plénière du 12 au 14 octobre 2015.
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 7/19
9.
L'avenir de la politique de cohésion au-delà de 2020
 Rapport sur les résultats du deuxième atelier technique consacré à l'avenir de la politique
de cohésion au-delà de 2020, par M. Iain BEGG, professeur à la London School of
Economics
Il s'ensuit un débat avec les membres.
Un troisième atelier technique aura lieu le 1er octobre 2015, soit la veille de la prochaine
réunion de la commission COTER.
10.
Questions diverses
11.
Confirmation de la date de la prochaine réunion
La prochaine réunion se tiendra le vendredi 2 octobre 2015 à Bruxelles.
_____________
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 8/19
Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy
and EU Budget
APPENDIX I: Statement by Iskra Mihaylova, chair of the European
Parliament Committee on Regional Development (REGI), and debate
during the COTER commission meeting on 13 July 2015
Summary by the COTER secretariat
After a short introduction by the COTER chair, Ms Mihaylova provided an overview of the political
priorities, activities and calendar of the REGI Committee.
Ms Mihaylova expressed her view that the meeting provided a real opportunity to exchange views and
share thoughts on the implementation of cohesion policy, nearly one and a half years after the start of
the new 2014-2020programming period, as well as to develop a resourceful partnership on common
areas of action.
In this context, she recalled that during the negotiations on the Cohesion policy legislative package for
2014-2020, REGI-COTER collaboration was an important factor in ensuring that the concerns of
European cities and regions were taken into consideration.
Ms Mihaylova further explained that the new programming period had started during challenging
times. Almost a decade of financial and economic crisis has hurt many European regions. Against this
background, Cohesion policy had to deliver results as fast and effectively as possible.
Programming and implementation of Cohesion policy 2014 – 2020
Ms Mihaylova outlined that, for REGI, the implementation of the new legislation, including the
Partnership Agreements and the Operational Programmes, was crucial, and that the REGI Committee
was very interested in cooperating with the COTER Commission on that matter. In particular, the
REGI Committee would be interested in the feedback from local and regional authorities on the
implementation of Cohesion policy on the ground.
Ms Mihaylova further pointed out that the REGI committee was currently working on an owninitiative report on "Cohesion policy and the review of the Europe 2020 strategy", which was
expected to be voted in September 2015 in REGI and in October in Plenary and highlighted that the
draft report has already reflected a number of references to the CoR Europe 2020 Monitoring
Platform, as well as to the CoR opinion on the 6th Cohesion report.
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For the current programming period, cohesion policy was closely linked with the strategic goals of the
Europe 2020 Strategy and economic governance mechanisms such as the European Semester. At the
same time, Cohesion Policy investments would play an important role in supporting structural reforms
by addressing relevant country specific recommendations. This would improve the overall investment
environment in Member States and regions.
The European Parliament would make full use of its enhanced role in the application of Article 23 of
the CPR. Ms Mihaylova noted that the Parliament should be involved in the process from the
beginning, within the framework of the structured dialogue and in a context of transparency and
parliamentary scrutiny.
The REGI chair explained that the greatest challenge was to fully develop the potential of Cohesion
policy through the adopted Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes that had become
strategic tools to guide investments in Member States and regions, in line with the overall EU
objectives. Ms Mihaylova underlined that the European Parliament would be vigilant to ensure that all
the potential for growth enshrined in the new Cohesion Policy was fully used in order to tackle
challenges like migration, demographic issues, climate change by making regions more competitive,
innovative, and to provide a higher quality of life to encourage people to live and work in these
regions.
Partnership principle
Ms Mihaylova recalled that the European Parliament had always strongly advocated the strengthening
of the partnership principle. Since the participation of local and regional actors differed widely across
the EU, depending on national systems and traditions, minimum standards for multilevel governance
had been adopted in the delegated act “The European code of conduct on partnership”. She assured
that the REGI committee would continue to carefully scrutinise the implementation of this act and
encourage the Member States to improve their governance systems, in order to make the
implementation of the policy more transparent, democratic and accessible for all actors involved,
including the social partners and civil society.
She welcomed, in this respect, the Committee of Regions' 'Charter for multilevel governance in
Europe' as it promoted the respect of the principle throughout all stages of policymaking, both at the
EU and Member State level.
Simplification and administrative capacity
Concerning simplification and administrative capacity, Ms Mihaylova explained that sustainable
growth rates and regional economic convergence could not be achieved without good governance and
enhanced administrative capacity. This included both the proper coordination of all governance levels
and ensuring that the necessary administrative capacities were in place. She underlined that in the new
programming period the ESI Funds contributed to institutional capacity building through a dedicated
thematic objective, which highlighted the importance Cohesion Policy attached to this area. Support
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 10/19
included actions to reform structures and processes, human resource management and service
delivery.
In the management of Cohesion Policy funds, there was also a pressing need for simplification, while
preserving sound administrative and financial management. It was important for Member States to
make full use of the simplification measures included in the new regulations, avoiding 'gold-plating'
and for the Commission to explore what could be done to further improve the rules and procedures. In
this context, Ms Mihaylova welcomed the setting up by the Commission of a high level group on
simplification and would like to underline that the right balance must constantly be sought between
accountability and simplification.
The issue was very relevant for the REGI committee, which planned to draw up an own-initiative
report on simplification and was therefore very keen on hearing the CoR position on this issue.
Investment Plan for Europe
Ms Mihaylova underlined that Cohesion policy and the Investment Plan for Europe had the common
goal to generate public and private investment in key strategic areas such as support to SMEs, energy
efficiency, digital infrastructure and R&D. The contribution of Cohesion Policy to the Investment
Plan was essential in terms of improving the investment conditions through the introduced ex-ante
conditionalities, as well as making additional financing available through increased use of financial
instruments. Greater coherence and better synergy among all EU-funded programmes and initiatives
was also needed. Horizon 2020, COSME, and the other EU-subsidized programmes, as well as the
newly set European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) could mutually enhance each other and the
REGI members were very much interested in developing ways of improving their coordination and
complementarity. This could be also an important area for reinforced cooperation between the
European Parliament and the CoR, and particularly the COTER commission.
In this regard, REGI was very much interested in hearing the views of local and regional authorities
and would like to participate in activities organised by the CoR on this matter.
Financial instruments
On the increased use of financial instruments, Ms Mihaylova assured that this issue received also the
full attention of the REGI committee because it could additionally enhance the effectiveness and
efficiency of the ESI Funds. She was aware that the COTER commission was currently dealing with
this topic through an own initiative opinion on "Financial instruments in support of territorial
development". The REGI committee would envisage a presentation of the opinion at a REGI meeting,
in order to explore further how territorial development could be supported by financial instruments in
the new programming period.
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 11/19
Smart Specialisation Strategies for boosting innovations and competitiveness
According to Ms Mihaylova Smart Specialisation Strategies for boosting innovations and
competitiveness was a crucial requirement to overcome the crisis and to enhance competitiveness.
Therefore the REGI committee intended to draw up an own-initiative report on the matter.
EU Urban Agenda
Ms Mihaylova underlined that the REGI committee was also very interested in cooperating with
COTER on the urban dimension of EU policies, in order to discuss the role of urban areas and their
surrounding rural areas, as well as the roles of the different actors involved. On 17 June 2015 the
REGI Committee adopted an INI Report on the urban dimension of EU policies, which reflected, to a
large extent, the CoR opinion on the matter.
Cross-border cooperation
Ms Mihaylova highlighted the importance of focusing on priorities and projects of real trans-regional
and cross-border relevance to achieve the impact needed. Within the work of REGI, it was intended to
propose and prepare an own-initiative report on European territorial cooperation and coordinating
REGI's work on it with the CoR was envisaged.
Future of Cohesion Policy post 2020
In view of its own-initiative report on "Cohesion policy and the review of the Europe 2020 strategy"
and the work of the Implementation Working Group, the REGI Committee actually had initiated its
reflections on the future Cohesion Policy post 2020. The REGI chair pointed out that the final
outcome and conclusions of the above report, as well as the activities of the working group, were
expected to contribute to the further work of the REGI Committee on the matter. At this stage,
Ms Mihaylova noted that the further strengthening of the territorial dimension and better coordination
and integration of policies at regional, national and European level should be targeted post 2020.
Better alignment between the key headline objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Territorial
Agenda 2020 should be sought. A more strengthened cooperation between different regional and local
partners in MS, as well as coordination with the EU, would be crucial for the development of all
policy stages.
REGI fact finding missions
The REGI committee organised fact-finding missions and the REGI committee would organise a
number of these missions this year and next year. Together with Mr Cattaneo they agreed to explore
with the local hosts the feasibility to involve COTER members in the meetings with local and regional
authorities that are organised within the framework of the missions.
COR-2015-03944-00-01-PV-TRA (EN) 12/19
REGI-COTER meeting during OPEN DAYS
Concerning the upcoming Open Days and REGI-COTER meeting Ms Mihaylova stressed that in line
with the motto of this year's Open Days "Europe's regions and cities: Partners for investment and
growth", she believed that the joint REGI-COTER meeting will contribute to enhancing the
application of the principles of partnership and multi-level governance not only during the
programming, but also during the whole implementation cycle of Cohesion policy operational
programmes.
Finally, Ms Mihaylova thanked Mr Cattaneo for inviting her and looked forward to a fruitful
collaboration in the coming months between REGI and COTER. She was confident that together
REGI and COTER could help to ensure that the growth potential in the new cohesion policy would be
fully achieved and that the policy would remain a central pillar of the EU beyond the year 2020.
A question and answer session followed:
Mr Bore (UK/PES) underlined that COTER members provided experience and knowledge on the
ground. That is why it would be important to involve COTER members in the REGI study and fact
finding missions in order to use this knowledge. Moreover, because of the expertise that LRAs
possess in the implementation of Structural Funds ways should be explored to associate the CoR
members in the REGI working group on implementation.
Mr Rouillon (FR/PES) highlighted the issue of simplification and stressed that LRAs need to deal
with heavy procedures which lead to major difficulties. He hoped that the situation would improve in
the years to come because otherwise it would jeopardise the raison d'etre of the policy. In this respect
the EC should trust LRAs to manage funds.
Mr Verkerk (NL/ALDE) congratulated Ms Mihaylova on the REGI report on the urban agenda. He
mentioned that the EC needs to be activated more on the urban agenda and should publish a white
paper as a next step.
Mr Robinson (UK/EA) made reference to the new territorial development instruments in Cohesion
Policy. He underlined that REGI and COTER together need to make sure that these new provisions
are respected. Moreover, he recalled that the next years are crucial to form the future of Cohesion
Policy. In this respect, it should be considered whether the funds have achieved their full potential.
Mr Robinson thought that there was scope for more, for example through more decentralisation to
local levels and empowerment of communities. Finally, he suggested moving beyond the straight
jacket of NUTS II and GDP.
Mr Osvald (CZ/PES) requested that the CoR be involved in trilogue negotiations as observers.
Moreover he raised a number of practical points such as the issue that the partnership principle was
taken up in formal terms only but not in practice and that the Partnership Agreements were not
transferred down to the local level. Finally, he drew attention to a number of difficulties that he had
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experienced: EC guidance and interpretation of rules was only received after the implementation of
the project had already started. There was too much focus on procedures and administrative processes.
Mr Abramavicius (LT/EPP) made reference to cross-border cooperation and suggested that the
European Commission and the European Parliament could recommend that MS use EGTCs more.
Moreover, synergies between cross-border policies and neighbourhood policies needed to be
strengthened.
Mr Vlasák (CZ/ECR) underlined that cohesion policy funding could be improved through
simplification. Moreover, the use of financial instruments was not ideal, yet. Finally he made
reference to the Structural Funds' contribution to the Energy Union.
Mr Mc Carthy (IE/EA) highlighted the good work done by INTERREG, which will be continued in
the future.
Mr Lebrun (BE/EPP) stressed that the COTER commission will be happy to welcome REGI
rapporteurs to COTER commission meetings. Concerning administrative simplification he welcomed
efforts by the European Commission and Parliament that should lead to simplification. Finally, he
argued that the Structural Funds are also an instrument to communicate that the EU is close to the
citizens, but highlighted that more could be done in this respect.
Ms Fanelli (IT/PES) remarked that consistency between the Structural Funds and other issues such as
social policies needed to be ensured, in order to respond in a more flexible manner to investment
needs.
The REGI chair, Ms Mihaylova, thanked all COTER members for their questions and highlighted that
it was extremely interesting to learn about the discussions in COTER. She underlined that COTER
members represented citizens on the ground and suggested meeting more often in different formats.
Concerning the working group on the implementation of the Cohesion Policy, Ms Mihaylova
indicated that she would explore the possibility of organising joint meetings.
Her favourite issue was better communication. In this respect, she outlined the need to better explain
what results projects achieved on the ground. Ms Mihaylova took the line that "if we explain the
policy we should not need to defend the policy."
Moreover, the REGI chair mentioned the cooperation with COTER on the Urban Agenda as an
example of good practice.
Concerning the application of the partnership principle, Ms Mihaylova admitted that she knew of bad
examples, but stressed that good examples also existed. In this respect, she knew that it was
considered easier to just take a decision instead of a joint decision with a stakeholder. But she
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believed in the importance of the partnership principle for the future. She concluded that the more we
show good examples the more we incite others to follow these approaches.
*
*
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*
Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy
and EU Budget
APPENDIX II: Statement by Ms Calvino, Director General for Budget at
the European Commission, during the COTER commission meeting on 13
July 2015
Summary prepared by the COTER secretariat:
Ms Calvino started by pointing out that Local and regional authorities/CoR are essential partners for
the implementation of the EU Budget.
She highlighted the importance of investing in this relationship and developing synergies.
Concerning the Draft EU budget for 2016 Ms Calvino stressed that the negotiations were ongoing.
She underlined that the 2016 EU budget will be the first budget in a new phase of budgets.
She recalled that the last time she was present at the CoR (in October 2014) the problem concerning
payments had been the main preoccupation. In fact, the year 2014 was very bad in term of payments
due to low payment appropriations agreed for that year as budget discipline had also hit the EU
budget and because it had been the first year of implementation of the new MFF. In that year, a new
instrument, "the Contingency margin", had to be used in order to mitigate the situation. This explained
why in 2014 payments were higher than the ceilings outlined in the MFF would allow.
As of 2016, however, a new phase had begun. Ms Calvino explained that the new programmes had
started and the EC will finish paying bills of the past. Moreover, she outlined that the 2016 EU budget
proposal remained below ceilings both in terms of commitments and payments. Thanks to the new
flexibility introduced in the current MFF 2014-20, it will be possible to use unused margins at the end
of the programming period when the bulk of bills will come in.
According to Ms Calvino, the top priority of the draft Budget 2016 will remain supporting jobs,
growth and investment. In this respect, the newly created EFSI and the Youth Employment Initiative
(YEI) were referred to.
Moreover, the proposal also accounted for new developments such as migration and energy union and
would focus on a shift towards efficiency and sound administrative management.
As a result, the biggest increase of resources reflected the top priorities. Notably, this concerned
Security and Citizenship (heading 3) and Global Europe (heading 4). However, the bulk of the EU
budget remained under heading 1 (smart and inclusive growth) and 2 (sustainable growth: natural
resources).
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On heading 1b:
Ms Calvino explained that the decrease of commitments in the 2016 budget could be explained by a
reprogramming exercise in previous years, which concerned an allocation of resources from 2014 to
2015.
Concerning the Youth Employment Initiative, commitments were frontloaded to 2014 so that no
commitments were envisaged in 2016. Nevertheless, implementation of the YEI would be important
in 2016.
Concerning the backlog of payments:
In previous years, a "perfect storm" hit as an enormous amount of bills were coming in, a situation
which eliminated any possible margin of flexibility.
This year, still many bills from the past period had come in but the EU budget had remained sufficient
to reduce the backlog to a sustainable level. By the end of 2016, there should be no significant
backlog.
Moreover, Ms Calvino presented a comparison between budgetary allocations of the EU institutions.
Another main theme of the discussion concerned efforts towards achieving a results based budget.
Ms Calvino stressed that "We need to make sure that every euro of public expenditure makes a
difference and we want to move from a culture of let's spend the money to a culture of let's spend the
money in the best possible way." She recalled that there should be European added value present in
every euro that we spend.
The so called budget focused on results was a top priority of EC President Juncker and Vice-President
Georgieva.
In this respect, she made clear that we need to look carefully at what we spend the money on and how
we spend the money. The focus should be to be as efficient as possible while avoiding
disproportionate costs.
Ms Calvino said that an Action Plan on results based budget had been agreed within the European
Commission, which entailed a number of actions such as a conference on Budgets on 22 September
2015 and the setting up of an interinstitutional working group on performance based budgeting.
Concerning the adoption procedure of the 2016 EU Budget Ms Calvino recalled that the Council
recently presented its position, which entailed significant cuts as compared to the European
Commission's proposal. Interinstitutional negotiations will take place in the autumn and a deal will
hopefully be reached by 18 November 2015, given that this year's negotiations have so far taken place
in a constructive atmosphere.
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Ms Calvino's response to COTER members' questions:
It is important to make sure that sufficient payment appropriations are agreed to tackle the backlog of
payments. Moreover, she noted a tendency to cut the EU budget in those headings (1a and 4) that do
not touch on national pre-allocation (national envelopes). She reminded, however, that this concerned
headings which are important in order to meet challenges.
Concerning a mid-term perspective, Ms Calvino stressed that LRAs have a key role in the
implementation of the EU budget. She admitted that the EC needs to understand the implementation,
obstacles and burden of implementing the EU budget.
In this respect the EC is looking forward to hearing and learning from local and regional authorities..
On Greece:
Ms Calvino explained that the 3rd programme for Greece will mainly be financed from outside the
EU budget as it will come from the intergovernmental ESM.
As far as a contribution from the ESIF is concerned she referred to the problem that in order to absorb
EU funds, national resources for co-financing were needed. As a result, the focus should be to help
Greece absorb funds. This does not necessarily mean more money but making sure resources can be
used properly.
On the MFF-review:
The EC is still in a preliminary phase as not all programmes of the new programming period are
approved yet. Moreover, before the review new tools of the MFF need to be evaluated.
On checks and audits:
Ms Calvino highlighted that despite frequent checks and audits at different levels a material error rate
persists according to the ECA. As a result citizens think that the EU budget is not sufficiently audited.
Therefore she argued to think checks and audits through carefully with a particular focus on cost
proportionality. She stressed that the EC is committed to the single audit trail and the primary audit
should be close to the ground and other audits should rely on that primary audit. This is, at the present
stage, however, not feasible because of a lack of trust. Moreover, the ECA had pointed out that
primary audits are not reliable yet.
She explained that less checks entail less costs and less administrative burden. Moreover, it creates a
better image for citizens. Ms Calvino stressed that the EC is absolutely committed to simplifying
checks and audits but highlighted that the EC would need to cooperate with the CoR on this matter.
Moreover, it is important to limit errors before limiting checks and audits. However, at this stage
efforts can be made to make audits more efficient.
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Conclusions:
Finally Ms Calvino stressed that she was happy to hear that the EC and the CoR do have a shared
agenda. She looked forward to a future occasion to discuss with the CoR less about money and more
about the process of how we spend the money and how to spend it better.
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