What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Removed:16. Insists on a critical review of Commission’s ad hoc initiatives and the thorough screening of new initiatives; demands that this process is managed jointly and in partnership, with guaranteed representation of the local level, both of cities and rural areas; calls for limiting the number of Commission ad hoc initiatives, some of which prove to be of less use to the local level and might undermine the effectiveness overall cohesion appropriations planned in advance by scattering them; insists that every new Commission initiative must be accompanied by a corresponding budgetary top-up;

Added:30. Believes that the legislative proposal for the future cohesion policy should only be released once it takes into consideration the outcomes of a major consultation effort and an EU-wide line-up of events and formats on the ground that bring together all levels of governance and all other stakeholders;

Removed:17. Calls for the creation of a mechanism for the early detection of red tape and actions in breach of or not effectively applying the multi-level governance principle; calls for the inclusion of the partnership principle in the European Semester; is convinced that the Commission and the ECA should have the right to follow-up, perform checks and make corrective recommendations;

Added:31. Underlines the need for a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the ESI Funds in the Member States and in the beneficiary regions and municipalities, focusing not just on the level of implementation of the funds allocated, but rather on the transformative nature of the investments and their impact on the economy and employment in the area;

Added:32. Notes that the 2021-2027 regulatory framework has already introduced measures to simplify the delivery and management of cohesion policy; points out that, while real progress has been made, there is still a long way to go in terms of simplifying procedures for final beneficiaries and providing legal certainty for managing authorities; stresses that overlapping controls and audits of funds should be avoided; stresses that further simplification should also enable an accelerated implementation and absorption pace;

Added:33. Underlines, therefore, that simplification should be one of the key drivers of the future cohesion policy; considers it necessary to streamline public procurement procedures, improve the alignment of cohesion policy with State aid rules, increase the use of simplified cost options, implement the single audit principle and identify ‘one-stop shops’ for potential beneficiaries; believes that the application of the rules for extrapolating the error rate creates a disproportionate administrative burden for the managing authorities and asks the Commission to look into revising these rules; calls on the Member States to avoid over-regulation in order to ensure legal certainty for the beneficiaries;

Added:34. Believes that further streamlining of the architecture of EU funding instruments should be achieved across the Cohesion Fund, the ERDF, the ESF+ and the Just Transition Fund, and possibly extended to the EAFRD, as it should be covered by the Common Provisions Regulation; acknowledges that such streamlining would further simplify the programming and implementation of the policy, enhance its visibility and effectiveness, and improve beneficiaries’ access to funding; stresses the importance of streamlining the individual fund-specific regulations in order to minimise increases in implementation delays and programming complexity; notes that any streamlining of funds should preserve their thematic orientation and the financing streams for the respective policy areas;

Added:35. Acknowledges that the performance framework introduced in the 2014-2020 period was an attempt to improve the result orientation of the policy; calls, in this regard, for a thorough modernisation of the delivery model – a shift from an activity-to-payment cycle to a performance-based implementation, based on tangible milestones, together with linkage to local and regional growth-enhancing reforms underscoring the basics of cohesion policy; emphasises that the performance-based approach will not work unless the regional and local level have a say in the definition of the targets against which the success of the policy will be measured;

Added:36. Underlines that such a shift towards performance-based implementation should not undermine transparency, accountability and the protection of the Union’s financial interests; notes that audit and control systems should nonetheless be adapted to the performance-based framework;

Added:37. Calls for a wider use of digital technologies and solutions in the Member States to simplify implementation, monitoring and reporting, hence contributing to more efficient administration and less physical documentation;

Added:38. Notes that public money coming from taxpayers must not be misused; asks the Commission, the Member States and regional authorities to use and enhance existing mechanisms to detect and fight irregularities, fraud and corruption in cohesion policy funding;

Added:39. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all Member States have an effective mechanism for reporting irregularities, in line with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1970; recommends that irregularities be classed as closed on the Irregularity Management System (IMS) only after the missing amounts are also recovered at national level, not only after the irregular sums are returned to the Commission; recommends that the Member States ensure, through data-mining tools such as ARACHNE, that data in the official report of irregularities and fraud in the IMS is cross-checked with the data for the approved projects;

Added:40. Calls on the Commission to improve coordination of the powers of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to investigate irregularities and fraud related to cohesion policy funds;

Added:41. Calls on the remaining Member States to join the EPPO in order to enhance the fight against corruption and the misuse of EU funds;

Added:42. Strongly supports the implementation of the rule of law conditionality in all Member States; expects the Commission, therefore, to take rule of law aspects fully into consideration when approving partnership agreements and cohesion policy programmes, so that they are in full compliance with the enabling conditions on the effective application and implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, as outlined in Annex III of the Common Provisions Regulation; further expects the Commission not to approve any partnership agreement or programme until this in-depth analysis of these specific aspects leads to a high level of assurance of no risk;

Added:43. Reiterates the importance of safeguards that would prevent unfair penalisation of the beneficiaries situated in countries that may be subject to the activation of the rule of law mechanism; asks the Commission to consider avenues through which it can deliver the funds to their final beneficiaries;

Added:44. Emphasises that cohesion policy must better adapt to challenges posed by the green, digital and industrial transitions and the social consequences they entail in order to remain relevant and achieve the objectives set out in the Treaties; believes that in order to achieve this, it is important to learn not only from the 2014-2020 funding period, but also from instruments such as the RRF, to address socio-economic challenges linked to recent crises and to provide adequate support to disadvantaged areas and communities;

Added:45. Calls on the Commission, in the post-2027 cohesion policy regulations, to continue to underline the importance of, inter alia, tackling climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity loss and protection of the environment, including better water and waste management, resource and energy efficiency, disaster resilience and risk prevention and management; considers, in this context, that climate mainstreaming and climate proofing mechanisms should be an integral part of programming and implementation, in particular for project selection; reminds the Commission, furthermore, that adequate support, in particular to local and regional authorities, to address socio-economic challenges linked to recent crises and to help disadvantaged areas and communities, should be an important feature in the implementation of funds;

Added:46. Underlines the importance of more sustainable mobility solutions throughout the EU territories, such as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy; is of the position that smart and sustainable mobility solutions should be prioritised for EU funding;

Added:47. Invites the Commission and the Member States to endeavour to ensure that all regions in the EU have access to high-speed broadband so that they are placed on an even footing to achieve the digital transition;

Added:48. Stresses the need to encourage the involvement of the private sector alongside the public sector for investments in sustainable development; underlines, in this regard, the role SMEs can play in innovation; calls on the Member States and the Commission to propose measures to enhance the uptake of ready-for-market innovations by SMEs;

Added:49. Calls for better access to funding for local and regional authorities, and also for cross-border and less-developed regions, to enable investments in the local and regional energy transition, including energy efficiency, decentralised distribution of energy and a strong focus on renewable energy and a sustainable circular economy;

Added:50. Is convinced, considering the structural changes linked to the twin green and digital transitions, and their uneven economic and social impact on EU regions, that the principle of just transition, with no territory and no one left behind, should guide the next programming period of cohesion policy;

Added:51. Recognises the importance of giving special attention to the regions affected by the industrial transition; welcomes, in this sense, the Commission’s efforts to address this issue with the Just Transition Fund, the first pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism; calls on the Commission to draw lessons from the implementation of this fund and to further clarify its objectives;

Added:52. Calls for continued financing for the just transition, which should be fully integrated into the Common Provisions Regulation and endowed with adequate financial means to be set up for the post-2027 programming period, and for the principles of shared management and partnership to be applied; takes the view that this expansion of the Just Transition Fund should focus on the appropriate NUTS (nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) level, take into account regional specificities, have a wider scope than the present Just Transition Fund, and be designed in such a way as to allow for prompt responses to newly arising challenges across various sectors and industries; calls for this new generation of financing to distinguish between climate change mitigation and adaptation; stresses that a share of funding should be devoted to the socially just transition and to reducing the Union’s carbon footprint;

Added:53. Calls for a dedicated policy objective towards tackling social inequalities to be maintained, as regional convergence has slowed down and new drivers of inequalities have appeared;

Added:54. Stresses the crucial role that cohesion investments in high-quality public services play in building social resilience and coping with economic, health and social crises;

Added:55. Underlines that cohesion policy’s scope of support includes the integration and inclusion of more than 3 million people who are at risk of social exclusion, including support to 600 000 people from marginalised groups, such as Roma, living in less-developed EU regions in particular; deplores the unwillingness of local governments of certain Member States to effectively use cohesion policy funds to ensure that these people have access to quality services, such as water and decent living conditions; urges the Member States to address these most pressing issues that will significantly contribute to reducing regional disparities;

Added:56. Draws attention to the difficult situation of regions sharing a border with Russia and Belarus after the suspension of cooperation following the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine; calls on the Commission to closely work with the affected Member States to find sustainable solutions in order to address the social and economic challenges in these regions;

Added:57. Underlines the multidimensional nature of rural development, which goes beyond agriculture per se; notes that only 11.5 % of people living in rural areas work in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors;

Added:58. Recalls that the EAFRD is currently linked to the cohesion policy framework, and that it should be further associated with the Common Provisions Regulation, which is needed to fully develop rural regions; emphasises the need to further streamline the funds, including the EAFRD, in regional development, as it could ensure the achievement of synergies and stronger rural-urban partnerships for investments in rural areas beyond agriculture; insists that the EAFRD should be managed regionally or with decisive regional and local participation, placing greater emphasis than before on structural policy measures in sparsely populated areas;

Added:59. Insists on the need to implement a rural proofing mechanism to assess the impact of EU legislative initiatives on rural areas;

Added:60. Points out that any future Union enlargement will have repercussions on the level of cohesion within the Union; points out that it will likely affect the current classification of the different regions, given that the average GDP per capita will fall significantly, as a consequence of the statistical effect;

Added:61. Calls on the Commission, therefore, to carry out a detailed assessment before proposing a new regulation for the post-2027 cohesion framework to ensure that cohesion policy is equipped to continue to support all regions and that any unfavourable consequences on the regions, caused by a statistical effect on cohesion policy eligibility, can be duly addressed; calls on the Commission, in addition, to include in its assessment an estimate of the additional needs for cross-border cooperation that an enlargement might entail; calls for consultation and structured work between the Commission and Parliament on these matters before a new legislative proposal is brought forward; calls for an enlargement-ready cohesion policy by 2030 at the latest;

Added:62. Underlines that the existing cohesion policy budget focuses on convergence objectives; underlines that, in the case of Ukraine, the cohesion policy budget cannot and must not cater for the expected financial demands of reconstruction; stresses that any reconstruction objectives should be achieved through distinct financing mechanisms, outside the scope of the MFF, through direct budgetary contributions from Member States, the private sector and external resources;

Added:63. Calls on the Commission to consider the possibility that public cohesion policy spending by Member States and regional and local authorities under the ESI Funds should not be considered national or equivalent structural expenditure as defined in the new economic governance rules, especially if they do not deviate from the fulfilment of the Paris Agreement objectives;

Added:64. Underlines the need to improve the relationship between cohesion policy and EU economic governance, while avoiding a punitive approach; stresses that the European Semester should comply with cohesion policy objectives as laid down in Articles 174 and 175 TFEU and the European Pillar of Social Rights; calls for the participation of the regions in the fulfilment of the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) and for a stronger territorial approach; calls for the concept of macroeconomic conditionality to be reconsidered and for the possibility of replacing this concept with new forms of conditionality to be explored so as to better reflect the new challenges that lie ahead of us;

Added:65. Recalls the ‘do no harm to cohesion’ principle, introduced by the 8th Cohesion Report, meaning that no action should hamper the convergence process or contribute to regional disparities; calls for a stronger integration of this principle as a cross-cutting principle in all EU policies, so that they support the objectives of social, economic and territorial cohesion, as set out in Articles 3 and 174 TFEU; insists that promoting cohesion should also be seen as a way of fostering solidarity and mutual support among Member States and their regions;

Added:66. Calls on the Commission to strengthen and develop this principle as part of the European Semester and to involve local and regional authorities at all stages of the procedures linked to the European Semester and its CSRs;

Added:67. Strongly believes in the importance of the horizontal principles of multilevel governance and partnership, which should remain guiding principles of cohesion policy post-2027;

Added:68. Calls on the Commission, the Member States, regions and local authorities to rigorously and effectively apply the multilevel governance principle;

Added:69. Highlights the importance of upholding the partnership principle in all programming, implementation and monitoring of EU cohesion policy, and of establishing strong cooperation between regional and local authorities, non-governmental organisations and stakeholders; calls for the partnership principle to remain binding and asks for its inclusion in the European Semester; calls on the Commission and the European Court of Auditors to scrupulously conduct follow-ups, perform checks and make corrective recommendations;

Added:70. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to extend the validity of the Code of Conduct for Partnerships under the ESI Funds (Delegated Regulation No 240/2014); believes that these guidelines contribute significantly to the better involvement of local and regional authorities and other stakeholders, but should be revised to further improve their effectiveness and ensure a more in-depth involvement of partners to promote place-based actions;

Added:71. Recalls that, in the 2021-2027 cohesion policy framework, gender equality and a gender perspective are included and promoted throughout all stages of the process of preparing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating cohesion programmes; highlights, furthermore, the specific role of women, in particular in remote and rural areas, as they are major players in civil society and sustainable economic growth; notes, however, at the same time, that they often face difficulties in accessing the labour market, public services, healthcare, childcare and equal pay;

Added:72. Highlights, furthermore, the particular importance of youth mainstreaming in cohesion policy;

Added:73. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make further efforts towards advancing the realisation of children’s rights by using ESF+ to support effective interventions that contribute to this goal;

Added:74. Calls for the communication and visibility of the programmes and EU-funded projects to be further strengthened across the Member States, by defining their objectives, target audiences, communication channels, social media outreach, planned budget and relevant indicators for monitoring and evaluation;

Added:Regional and local focus

Added:75. Calls for climate adaptation and disaster prevention and preparedness investments to be guaranteed either through a dedicated policy objective, thematic concentration or a specific enabling condition to ensure sustainable investments in local and regional infrastructure and risk management in less-developed urban and rural areas, including border regions, islands and the outermost regions; believes that targeted financing should focus on risk reduction and preparedness for a broad spectrum of disasters (climate-related, geological, health-related, human-made); believes that this should include a strong focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation to help local and regional authorities to better manage risk and prepare to respond to the local impacts of climate change, from slow onset events to extreme weather events, including coastal erosion, desertification, rising sea levels, wildfires, floods, landslides, heatwaves and other natural disasters;

Added:76. Believes that cohesion funding should benefit both urban and rural areas in a balanced way; calls for cohesion policy to include a stronger urban and rural dimension through designated investments in both urban and rural areas as well as stronger links between urban and rural projects and sustainable investments in order to address the demographic challenge, the development trap and the urban-rural divide that affect EU regions;

Added:77. Calls for the proportion of national ERDF allocations for urban development to be increased; calls on the Member States to ensure that small municipalities are also able to access the ERDF funds dedicated to financing sustainable and integrated urban development projects; calls, similarly, for funding to be earmarked for rural areas and regions that suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps; calls for this funding to be co-programmed with local and regional authorities and for the benefit of the local communities and the respective regions;

Added:78. Calls for the establishment of a genuine structural policy for rural areas, with appropriate thematic objectives that respond to the particular challenges of these areas, such as rural desertification, population ageing, depopulation, rural abandonment, the decline of communities in general and insufficient healthcare and education opportunities;

Added:79. Encourages synergies between joint projects and collaboration agreements between the different levels of governance in order to harness pooled capacities and economies of scale in EU investments in infrastructure, innovation, climate change mitigation/adaptation and the green and digital transitions; believes that this process should lead to a greater sense of ownership of projects and the consolidation of sustainable investments, instead of fragmentation and a lack of synergies;

Added:80. Highlights the added value of territorial cooperation in general and cross-border cooperation in particular; calls for the budget for European Territorial Cooperation programmes to be increased, as they provide a unique framework for interregional, cross-border and transnational cooperation and help address common challenges, fostering partnerships and promoting economic development, social cohesion and environmental sustainability; suggests that the ‘borderland billion’ be entrusted directly to the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, which is to be tasked with its independent management and distribution among projects;

Added:81. Considers the Territorial Agenda 2030 to be a real and proper instrument that ensures the EU’s cohesion through the management of each of its regions and their particularities; calls on the Commission to consider modifying the role of the Territorial Agenda 2030 beyond that of a territorial management guide; calls on the Member States to develop their territorial agendas in line with the Territorial Agenda 2030 as a basis for programming their territorial strategies, taking into account the specificities of each of their regions, and serving as an incentive, as well as in order to stimulate the decision-making process and the design of territorial and urban policies;

Added:82. Acknowledges that integrated territorial development tools play a fundamental role in quality implementation and absorption of resources; calls for a proportion of the cohesion policy funds to be earmarked for developing territorial approaches in rural areas or for urban-rural territorial approaches through integrated territorial investments, community-led local development or other mechanisms for non-agricultural rural development to complement actions supported by the LEADER approach under the common agricultural policy, as this will also be a fundamental way of addressing the geography of discontent;

Added:83. Is of the opinion that the use of cohesion decommitments for reserve margins within cohesion policy would help, inter alia, to absorb future inflationary hikes or supply chain shocks; believes that this use should operate on a rolling basis, dependent on necessity and following the multiannual and annual decommitment cycles;

Added:84. Believes that the trade-off between the necessary place-based orientation and the support to the Union’s thematic priorities could be addressed through higher flexibility and a selectable menu of thematic objectives and challenges, accessible to regions and municipalities according to their development levels and needs, while respecting the thematic concentration at national level; underlines that such a model reduces the complexity of the programming process and factors in regional characteristics; stresses that cohesion policy should continue tracking the local landscape of needs in order to address them effectively in the context of reducing regional disparities across the EU;

Added:85. Underscores that thematic concentration remains a cornerstone of achieving the transition towards a more competitive, smarter, more social and resilient Union, as well as a net-zero carbon economy; stresses, however, that it should be adapted to the real needs of regions and cities, and the way they operate in practical terms, from programming and reprogramming to implementation and closure; is certain that the key principle should be a tailor-made investment approach geared towards specific needs on the ground;

Added:86. Asks the Commission, when determining the level of support for each region, to take into account additional characteristics, such as areas within the region with growth potential, the intensity of their particular challenges, their level of exposure to the impacts of ongoing transitions, such as the green, digital and industrial transitions, or their level of social progress, so as to better define the path of each region towards convergence; stresses that GDP as the sole indicator of development fails to take into account all of these aspects and calls for it to be complemented by other indicators, such as the EU Social Progress Index and the Climate Change Vulnerability Index; underlines the importance of paying particular attention to supporting regions facing a development trap, as highlighted in the 8th Cohesion Report;