Ahead of the adoption of her opinion on the 'Structural Reform Support Programme for the period 2017 to 2020' by the CoR April plenary session, CoR rapporteur Olga Zrihen, member of the Walloon Parliament, Belgium, tells us why, according to her, a considerable level of involvement on the part of local and regional authorities is essential for the programme to be successful.
What is meant by structural reform?
According to the European Commission's Communication, the aims of the structural reforms are: "The creation of a sound regulatory and institutional environment and a smoothly-functioning economy [...] for making gains in competitiveness, encouraging investment, fostering employment creation, raising living standards and producing sustainable growth across Union Member States".
Structural reforms include institutional, administrative and socio-economic reforms, together with reforms in governance carried out by the Member States.
The structural reform support programme referred to in this text requires a voluntary approach on the part of a Member State to set it in motion. The Member State must submit its request by 31 October at the latest each year during the period from 2017 to 2020.
Such requests must relate to the implementation of country-specific recommendations, EU legislation, an economic adjustment programme, or a structural reform undertaken by a Member State.
Actions that qualify within the framework of this programme include the exchange of good practices among Member States, the provision of expertise and sending in working teams on the ground.
Is this programme accessible to local and regional authorities?
The initial text does not refer to them directly. Nevertheless, structural reforms call for a high level of ownership on the ground. In this respect, a considerable level of involvement on the part of local and regional authorities is essential for the programme to be successful and for it to help increase trust and encourage cooperation between the requesting Member State, the Commission and the other Member States.
Indeed, a great number of opinions to this effect were expressed during our preliminary meetings with the stakeholders involved in this area. That is why it is one of the main recommendations we are putting forward and which seems to have met with a very positive response.
We also believe it important for the exchanges of best practices to be backed up by the involvement of local and regional authorities with socio-economic or geographical similarities, or that are subject to structural reforms with cross-border implications.
Is this programme meant to continue beyond 2020?
The Structural Reform Support Programme covers the period from 2017 to 2020 and is part of the European Semester that began in November 2015. The programme is a new instrument and as such should be regarded as a pilot scheme in order to assess its effectiveness in conjunction with the European Commission's Directorates-General for Regional Policy and for Employment.
It is therefore extremely important that an assessment be carried out in good time before the beginning of the next financial programming period, starting in 2021, in order to decide whether it would be beneficial to make it permanent, and, if so, whether establishing an own resource fund to support structural reforms is necessary, feasible and desirable.
