Review and proposal for the revision of the MFF 2021-2027
COTER-VII/032
Review and proposal for the revision of the MFF 2021-2027
The European Commission put on the table a mid term review and a proposal for a mid term revision of the MFF 2021-27 on 20 June 2023.
To be able to provide a swift answer, the Committee of the Regions appointed a Rapporteur General and adopted its final poistion in Octoboer 2023 plenary. The opinion covers both the revision of the MFF per se (i.e: targetd and limited increases in some spending areas) and the proposal to set up a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) which consitutes the EU's response to initiatives taken by other countries such as the USA ( Inflation Reduction Act) to boost invesements in green, digital, bio "deep technologies" .
The proposal (included in the MFF mid term revision) for extra funding for Ukraine (Ukraine Facility) is dealt with in the Nardalla Opinion (CIVEX VII -025).
In order to feed the work on the STEP proposal, CoR organised a Territorial Impact Assesment (TIA) on Monday 2 October 2023. The report on the TIA - STEP will be published in November 2023.
To be able to provide a swift answer, the Committee of the Regions appointed a Rapporteur General and adopted its final poistion in Octoboer 2023 plenary. The opinion covers both the revision of the MFF per se (i.e: targetd and limited increases in some spending areas) and the proposal to set up a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) which consitutes the EU's response to initiatives taken by other countries such as the USA ( Inflation Reduction Act) to boost invesements in green, digital, bio "deep technologies" .
The proposal (included in the MFF mid term revision) for extra funding for Ukraine (Ukraine Facility) is dealt with in the Nardalla Opinion (CIVEX VII -025).
In order to feed the work on the STEP proposal, CoR organised a Territorial Impact Assesment (TIA) on Monday 2 October 2023. The report on the TIA - STEP will be published in November 2023.
The rapporteur participated to EP BUDG committee on 30 August 2023 (where MEPs dicussed the mid term review/ revision of the MFF) in order to present his draft opinion.
The rapporteur held some bilateral meetings with EP co Rapporteur on the MFF 2021 -27, Margarida Marques (S&D, PT)
The rapporteur chaired the Terrritorial Impact Assessemnt session orgniased by the CoR on the STEP proposal ( Strategic Technologies for Europe Plaform) held on 2 October 2023.
The rapporteur held some bilateral meetings with EP co Rapporteur on the MFF 2021 -27, Margarida Marques (S&D, PT)
The rapporteur chaired the Terrritorial Impact Assessemnt session orgniased by the CoR on the STEP proposal ( Strategic Technologies for Europe Plaform) held on 2 October 2023.
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- welcomes the fact that the Commission shares the view of the CoR that the current MFF does not offer sufficient financial resources;
- welcomes the proposed increase in the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve as it will strengthen the European Union's ability to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies;
- welcomes the introduction of the Ukraine facility; regrets that the financial means provided for the Ukraine Facility falls behind the current financial support and therefore calls for an increased envelope of EUR 60 000 million;
- urges Member States to come to a decision as soon as possible on the proposals related to the adjusted package for the next generation of own resources;
- deeply regrets that the Commission did not conduct any territorial impact assessment on the STEP proposal; the CoR organised a Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA), which confirmed the possible concentration of funding under the programmes reinforced by STEP in some regions and Member States and a possible concentration of the targeted critical technologies in the same areas;
- strongly doubts that the opening up of cohesion policy instruments for large companies in transition regions, as well as in the more developed regions of Member States with a GDP per capita below the EU average, will strengthen cohesion;
- recognises that increasing co-financing to 100% for STEP priorities may inadvertently favour the most developed regions, potentially diminishing the overall impact of cohesion policy;
- warmly welcomes the proposed extension by 12 months of the submission of the closure documentation under the 2014-2020 programming period for both the CPR and the FEAD; urges the co-legislators to agree on these modifications as soon as possible so as to give predictability to the managing authorities; calls for the proposed flexibilities to be approved under a stand-alone ad hoc procedure independent of the STEP Regulation.
- welcomes the fact that the Commission shares the view of the CoR that the current MFF does not offer sufficient financial resources;
- welcomes the proposed increase in the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve as it will strengthen the European Union's ability to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies;
- welcomes the introduction of the Ukraine facility; regrets that the financial means provided for the Ukraine Facility falls behind the current financial support and therefore calls for an increased envelope of EUR 60 000 million;
- urges Member States to come to a decision as soon as possible on the proposals related to the adjusted package for the next generation of own resources;
- deeply regrets that the Commission did not conduct any territorial impact assessment on the STEP proposal; the CoR organised a Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA), which confirmed the possible concentration of funding under the programmes reinforced by STEP in some regions and Member States and a possible concentration of the targeted critical technologies in the same areas;
- strongly doubts that the opening up of cohesion policy instruments for large companies in transition regions, as well as in the more developed regions of Member States with a GDP per capita below the EU average, will strengthen cohesion;
- recognises that increasing co-financing to 100% for STEP priorities may inadvertently favour the most developed regions, potentially diminishing the overall impact of cohesion policy;
- warmly welcomes the proposed extension by 12 months of the submission of the closure documentation under the 2014-2020 programming period for both the CPR and the FEAD; urges the co-legislators to agree on these modifications as soon as possible so as to give predictability to the managing authorities; calls for the proposed flexibilities to be approved under a stand-alone ad hoc procedure independent of the STEP Regulation.
