Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget
European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund
Opinion factsheet
On this page
- Cohesion Policy
- Cohesion policy reform
Opinion number:
CDR-3594-2018
Status:
Adopted
Objective
This Opinion aims to express the view of the CoR on the proposal for a new Regulation on the ERDF and on the CF presented by the European Commission (EC) on 29 May 2018.
Impact
Concerning the impact of the Opinion on the ERDF CF regulation, the proposals of the Committee of the Regions were taking on board by the final Regulation, such as:
For instance, for the first time ever the ERDF regulation will consider and define territories which suffer from demographic decline (reduction of at least 1% population between 2007-2017), and not only the demographic density, at the level of NUTS 3;
The ERDF resources for sustainable urban development will be increased from 6 to at least 8 %;
Within the new European Urban Initiative, all urban areas will be covered, including functional urban areas, and the co-legislators included the CoR proposal to support the "Erasmus for local representatives" under the Urban Agenda for the EU.
Finally, the CoR also succeeded to include the possibility to finance the capacity building actions at local level to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
As regards the thematic concentration, the CoR position coincided with co-legislators on the importance to dedicate at least the 30% of the ERDF to green investments in any of the category of the regions and Member states, considering the importance to fulfil the obligations stemming from the Paris Agreement objectives.
The final text followed the CoR's recommendation to exclude the specific financial allocations assigned to the Outermost Regions from the thematic concentration, as well as the possibility to support productive investments in big companies in the outermost regions.
Considering the thematic aspects of the ERDF CF Regulation, the co-legislators considered some proposals put forward by the CoR's opinion, such as the inclusion of the energy poverty; the promotion of the resilience to prevent natural disasters; Promoting sustainable multimodal urban mobility, as part of transition to a net zero carbon economy; Investment in culture and tourism were retained, as well as the support to the localisation of SDGs.
For instance, for the first time ever the ERDF regulation will consider and define territories which suffer from demographic decline (reduction of at least 1% population between 2007-2017), and not only the demographic density, at the level of NUTS 3;
The ERDF resources for sustainable urban development will be increased from 6 to at least 8 %;
Within the new European Urban Initiative, all urban areas will be covered, including functional urban areas, and the co-legislators included the CoR proposal to support the "Erasmus for local representatives" under the Urban Agenda for the EU.
Finally, the CoR also succeeded to include the possibility to finance the capacity building actions at local level to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
As regards the thematic concentration, the CoR position coincided with co-legislators on the importance to dedicate at least the 30% of the ERDF to green investments in any of the category of the regions and Member states, considering the importance to fulfil the obligations stemming from the Paris Agreement objectives.
The final text followed the CoR's recommendation to exclude the specific financial allocations assigned to the Outermost Regions from the thematic concentration, as well as the possibility to support productive investments in big companies in the outermost regions.
Considering the thematic aspects of the ERDF CF Regulation, the co-legislators considered some proposals put forward by the CoR's opinion, such as the inclusion of the energy poverty; the promotion of the resilience to prevent natural disasters; Promoting sustainable multimodal urban mobility, as part of transition to a net zero carbon economy; Investment in culture and tourism were retained, as well as the support to the localisation of SDGs.
Essential points
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- notes with concern that the Commission's proposal for a multi-annual financial framework provides for a sharp decrease in the Cohesion Fund budget of 46% and a stable budget for the ERDF (+1%);
- objects to the proposal that the ERDF thematic concentration will focus on the national level; this centralised allocation mechanism goes against the place-based approach and the multilevel governance principle of Cohesion Policy;
- regrets that the EAFRD has been taken out of the Common Provision Regulation that sets out common rules applicable to various funds and underlines the necessity of strong complementarities between the ERDF and the ESF+ in order to carry out integrated and comprehensive initiatives at local level (ITI and CLLD);
- notes that Member States are encouraged to transfer 5% of ERDF or CF resources to the new InvestEU instrument and also to transfer a further 5% of their ERDF allocation to EU programmes managed by the EC. However, the shared management approach has had a demonstrated impact on the economic, social and territorial cohesion for Europe. Any transfer by the Member State should be decided with the involvement of the local and regional partners in line with the partnership principle and multilevel government;
- supports the increased focus on sustainable urban development by dedicating 6% of ERDF resources at national level to this area;
- includes in the ERDF objectives support for areas with geographical or demographic handicaps, including regions suffering from high ageing, depopulation and migration. Includes furthermore, the possibility to receive additional funding for capacity building;
- encourages further "greening" of the Funds, enabling regions to finance actions for climate-adaptation, including promoting resilience to natural disasters.