Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund

What it is

to define the objectives and scope of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF) for the period 2021-2017. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: for the next multiannual financial framework covering the period 2021-2017, the Commission proposes to modernise cohesion policy to help redress imbalances within and between Member States. The Committee on Regional Development adopted the report by Andrea COZZOLINO (S&D, IT) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund. The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal as follows. The ERDF and the Cohesion Fund shall contribute to the overall objective of strengthening the Union’s economic, social and territorial cohesion: - the ERDF shall contribute to reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions within the Union, and to reducing the backwardness of the least favoured regions including environmental challenges, through sustainable development and structural adjustment of regional economies; - the Cohesion Fund shall contribute to projects in the field of trans-European networks and environment. The proposal divides these objectives into five main areas: a Europe that is smarter, greener, more connected, more social and closer to citizens which in turn are divided into twenty-one areas of intervention. Members propose to strengthen the possibility of taking action in the following sectors: digital connectivity; fair transition and circular economy; natural heritage; zero emission urban mobility; sustainable tourism; long-term socio-economic integration of refugees and migrants under international protection; support for capacity building of responsible authorities. ERDF operations shall contribute at least 35% of the overall ERDF financial envelope to the achievement of climate objectives (40% of the Cohesion Fund financial envelope). The meaningful participation of regional and local authorities, civil society organisations, including beneficiaries, in all stages of the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of ERDF programmes shall be ensured. Members propose to restore the thematic concentration at the level of categories of regions classified according to their gross domestic product and not, as the Commission proposes, at the level of Member States classified according to their gross national income. They also believe that PO 2 (a greener Europe) should also be extended to the group of the most developed regions. To ensure an appropriate and real margin of flexibility, Member States may, in justified cases, request additional flexibility from the percentage allocated to PO 1 (up to 5 percentage points, and up to 10 percentage points for outermost regions) at regional category level,…

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