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opinion parliamentary committee draft, 17 April 2026

On the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Fund for Regional Development including for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) and the Cohesion Fund as part of the Fund set out in Regulation (EU) […] [NRP] and establishing conditions for the implementation of the Union support to regional development from 2028 to 2034

Document BUDG-PA-787661 · (COM(2025)0552 – C100168/2025 – 2025/0238(COD))

Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Matthias Ecke

On Parliament’s site PDF Word

AI:In short

The Committee on Budgets gives its budgetary assessment of the proposed regulation setting up the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and Interreg for 2028-2034 as part of the National and Regional Partnership Plans. It says the proposal merges distinct funds into one plan per member state without a dedicated budget allocation for each, and warns this risks weakening cohesion spending. It calls for ring-fenced allocations for each instrument, dedicated budget lines in the long-term budget, and earmarking of the ERDF cohesion envelope per category of region. It asks for the full involvement of regional and local authorities, stronger parliamentary oversight, and sufficient qualified staff throughout the programming period.

Position. The Committee on Budgets finds that the proposal lacks dedicated envelopes and budget lines for each instrument, and calls for ring-fenced allocations, dedicated budget lines in the long-term budget, earmarking per category of region, involvement of regional and local authorities, and stronger parliamentary oversight.

Key points

  1. The Committee on Budgets carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposal under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure.
  2. The proposal establishes the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and Interreg as part of the National and Regional Partnership Plans for 2028-2034.
  3. The NRP Regulation allocates EUR 782.8 billion to the partnership plans, at least EUR 217.8 billion ring-fenced for less developed regions, and EUR 10.2 billion to the Interreg Plan.
  4. The financial resources for regional development and cohesion within the partnership plans should be ring-fenced at a level no lower than a number to be inserted from the interim report on the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework.
  5. The committee considers that merging different policies into one plan per member state politicises the distribution of EU funds and disrupts the current architecture of cohesion spending.
  6. It stresses that the exact level of resources cannot be determined in advance because no dedicated envelope is set in the basic act, hampering the budgetary authority's ability to assess and monitor investment.
  7. It calls for clearly ring-fenced allocations for the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and Interreg, with their specific objectives defined in the specific regulation, and for the lead committee to coordinate its amendments.
  8. It deplores the absence of dedicated budget lines for the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund in the long-term budget and calls for a sufficient number of such lines for cohesion policy objectives.
  9. It calls for the full involvement of regional and local authorities in the design, monitoring and implementation of funds, based on shared management, multi-level governance and partnership.
  10. It considers that cohesion funding must be accessible to all territories and calls for the overall envelope for ERDF cohesion policy interventions to be earmarked per category of region.
  11. It insists on sufficiently detailed legislation and recommends provisions to strengthen control over how the budget is mobilised and spent, saying a steering mechanism cannot replace Parliament's powers.
  12. It takes note of proposed complementarity between the funds and other programmes, stresses that this must not harm traceability of expenditure, and calls for sufficient qualified human resources throughout the programming period.

Who is affected

  • Regional and local authorities: to be fully involved in designing, monitoring and implementing the funds.
  • Member states: their programming choices and top-up decisions would determine the effective allocation of funds.
  • Less developed regions: at least EUR 217.8 billion is ring-fenced for them under the NRP Regulation.
  • The budgetary authority: it would gain dedicated budget lines and stronger oversight over cohesion funding.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 782.8 billion allocated to the National and Regional Partnership Plans.
  • At least EUR 217.8 billion ring-fenced for less developed regions.
  • EUR 10.2 billion allocated to the Interreg Plan.
  • Period 2028-2034 for the Union support to regional development.

Legal basis. Articles 174-178 TFEU provide the legal basis for EU cohesion policy.

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Full text

Budgetary assessment 19 paragraphs

for the Committee on Regional Development on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Fund for Regional Development including for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) and the Cohesion Fund as part of the Fund set out in Regulation (EU) […] [NRP] and establishing conditions for the implementation of the Union support to regional development from 2028 to 2034

(COM(2025)0552 – C100168/2025 – 2025/0238(COD))

The Committee on Budgets has carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposal under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure and has reached the following conclusions:

The Committee on Budgets,

A.whereas Articles 174-178 TFEU provide the legal basis for EU cohesion policy;

B.whereas the proposal establishes the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF) and Interreg as part of the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) for the period 2028-2034;

C.whereas the financial resources for regional development, economic, social and territorial cohesion and European territorial cooperation are established in the NRP Regulation, which allocates EUR 782.8 billion to the NRPPs, of which at least EUR 217.8 billion is ring-fenced for less developed regions pursuant to Article 10(2)(a)(i), and EUR 10.2 billion to the Interreg Plan pursuant to Article 10(2)(c);

D.whereas Interreg is now incorporated into a shared basic act with the ERDF and the CF;

1.Considers that the financial resources allocated to regional development and economic, social and territorial cohesion within the overall NRPPs envelope should be ring-fenced at a level no lower than [insert number from the Interim report on the proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034 (2025/0571R(APP)), in current and 2025 prices];

2.Considers that the proposed NRP Regulation, which merges different policies into one plan per Member State, politicises the distribution of EU funds; deeply regrets that the proposal disrupts the current architecture of cohesion policy spending by merging distinct Treaty-based funds and the dedicated programme for territorial cooperation into a single regulatory framework without clearly setting out a dedicated budgetary allocation for each instrument; warns that this approach risks weakening cohesion spending and will fail to adequately support the achievement of Treaty-based objectives for economic, social and territorial cohesion and upwards convergence;

3.Stresses that the exact level of financial resources allocated to regional development and cohesion within the proposed NRP Regulation cannot be determined with certainty ex ante, as no dedicated envelope is established in the basic act and the effective allocation will depend on the programming choices and top-up decisions taken by each Member State in the design of their national plans, fundamentally hampering the budgetary authority’s ability to assess, monitor and defend the level of investment throughout the programming period;

4.Calls for clearly ring-fenced allocations for the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and Interreg respectively; considers, furthermore, that the specific objectives of the ERDF, CF and Interreg respectively should be clearly defined in the specific Regulation establishing these instruments based on their separate ring-fenced envelopes; calls on the lead committee to coordinate its amendments to ensure there is no contradiction with the NRP Regulation;

Read the rest (7 paragraphs)

5.Deplores the absence of dedicated budget lines for the ERDF and the CF in the LFDS accompanying the proposed NRP Regulation; considers that this will hamper oversight and the budgetary authority’s ability to steer accurately policy priorities in the annual budgetary procedure; expresses concerns that the overly aggregated budgetary architecture would facilitate transfers not subject to a budgetary authority decision;

6.Calls, therefore, for a sufficient number of dedicated budget lines for the Union support to cohesion policy objectives in the LFDS accompanying the proposed NRP Regulation; considers them essential to ensure that the budgetary authority maintains proper oversight on the funding at all stages of the budgetary cycle;

7.Calls for the full involvement of regional and local authorities in the design, monitoring and implementation of funds, based on shared management, multi-level governance and partnership; stresses the need for clearly defined resources, partnership rules and a strong territorial focus;

8.Considers that the Union’s funding for cohesion must ensure guaranteed accessibility for all territories and include allocations for all categories of regions in order to ensure fairness, predictability and long-term programming; calls therefore for the overall envelope for ERDF cohesion policy interventions to be earmarked per category of region;

9.Insists that sufficiently detailed and sound legislation, with an appropriate level of governance, is a condition for proper budgetary decision-making and adequate parliamentary oversight; recommends introducing provisions to strengthen control over how the budget is mobilised and spent; considers that a ‘steering mechanism’ cannot compensate for any loss of Parliament’s legislative or budgetary powers;

10.Takes note of the proposed complementarity between the ERDF, the CF, Interreg and other programmes, especially under the NRPPs and the ECF; stresses that enhanced complementarity between instruments must not come at the expense of traceability of expenditure or the prerogatives of the budgetary authority; underlines that the contribution from other programmes must be explicitly identifiable at all stages of the budgetary cycle;

11.Considers that sufficient and qualified human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the entire programming period of the next MFF to ensure an effective implementation of the Union support to regional development.

Amendments 16 paragraphs

As part of its budgetary assessment, the Committee on Budgets also submits the following amendments to the proposal:

Amendment 1

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 19 a (new)

Text proposed by the CommissionAmendment
(19a) The provisions of this Regulation as well as its governance arrangements should be conducive to proper decision-making by the budgetary authority and to appropriate parliamentary oversight. In particular, any specification of the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) internal architecture should be duly reflected in the budget nomenclature through the introduction of corresponding budget lines.

Or. en

Amendment 2

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 19 b (new)

Text proposed by the CommissionAmendment
(19b) The implications of this Regulation for the Union budget have been assessed⁺ pursuant to Article 310(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Sufficient financial and human resources should be provided for its implementation, while considering the impact of the financing on other Union programmes or policies and ensuring its compatibility with the multiannual financial framework as well as with the budgetary principles laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council¹.
⁺ Pro memoria: Budgetary assessment of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets of [date] on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Fund for Regional Development including for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) and the Cohesion Fund as part of the Fund set out in Regulation (EU) […] [NRP] and establishing conditions for the implementation of the Union support to regional development from 2028 to 2034 (COM(2025)0552).
¹ Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj).

Or. en

Amendment 3

Proposal for a regulation

Article 2 – paragraph 1 a (new)

Text proposed by the CommissionAmendment
(1a) The indicative financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the period 2028-2034 is set at EUR [insert number from the Interim report on the proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034 (2025/0571R(APP)), in current and 2025 prices];

Or. en