The EU has launched five new pilot programmes to help regional authorities improve management of funds ahead of proposed cuts to cohesion policy funding.
The European Commission launched its proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027 earlier this month, and despite the urging of stakeholders to retain current levels of cohesion policy funding, the commission has proposed a 5% cut in the budget. The new projects aim to help regional authorities improve management of funds in order to minimise the impact of this cut.
The programmes will aim to make a key impact in the management of reduced cohesion policy funding in five member states. The projects in question include:
- A transport infrastructure, environment and sustainable development programme in Greece;
- A Lubelskie regional programme in Poland;
- An Extremadura regional programme in Spain;
- A competitiveness and cohesion programme in Croatia; and
- A regions in growth programme in Bulgaria.
The pilot programmes will launch in the summer of 2018 and serve to establish roadmaps for administrative capacity-building, and overcome any potential deficits caused by cuts to cohesion funding policy.
How will the programme be structured?
Following their launch later this year, the first phase of the pilot programmes will run until March 2019. They will gather experts and authorities together to establish a series of improvements that can be made across sectors which currently benefit from cohesion policy.
Roadmaps with areas of improvement will be prepared, which authorities running the programmes will then implement in the second phase of the pilot, beginning in 2019, with direct support from the European Commission.
How will this address funding cuts?
Stakeholders will discuss improvements that can be made in organisational set-up and transparency, human resources, structure of internal procedures and ICT systems, and good governance – including interaction with external stakeholders – all in aim of helping regional authorities improve management of funds.
European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Creţu, previously supported efforts to fight cuts to cohesion policy. With these new pilot programmes, she welcomed the commission’s efforts to minimise the impact of these cuts.
She stated: “To fully unlock the potential of public investment in terms of growth and jobs, solid institutions and well-functioning administration are as important as the money itself. In the next long term EU budget, lessons drawn from this pilot action will help boost the effectiveness and performance of EU and public national funds alike in the future.”
