Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-13-Speech-1-151-000"
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"en.20120213.19.1-151-000"2
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"Madam President, let me start by saying once again that there is no doubt that Europe needs growth. The last summit finally admitted what many of us in this House have been repeating stubbornly for years, namely that any further budget consolidation, including austerity packages, must be growth-friendly. The current forecasts are not good. If stagnation continues it will eventually lead to a deep erosion of Europe’s productive capital, human capital in particular and young human capital even more so.
So we are all for efforts exerted at all levels of European governance to get the most out of EU budget-supported policies. In this context, we were surprised to hear from the President of the Commission that there are EUR 82 billion of what were called ‘unspent structural funds’: EUR 22 billion from the European Social Fund – which corresponds to roughly 30% of the 2007-2013 allocation – and EUR 60 billion of the ERDF and Cohesion Fund, which means more or less 22% of the current programming period’s allocation. We discovered, however, that this is not really unspent money but rather money that has not yet been spent.
Looking more carefully into this announcement, we understand that these funds have not yet been allocated to concrete projects but that they are already committed to priorities and programmes. We also understand that allocation to projects, largely through tenders, is a process lasting until the end of the Multiannual Financial Framework.
It could therefore be expected that most Member States would keep part of the allocation for 2012 and 2013. We also understand that the remaining 70% of ESF funding and 78% of the Cohesion and Regional Funds have either already been paid or that the relevant tenders have been completed, which means that legal commitments have been made or that projects are ongoing.
Our question most likely comes too early to request a fully-fledged assessment from the Commission of the scope for the potential need for reprogramming. We understand that since 2007 growth and jobs have been priorities of cohesion policy and its overarching mission. Nevertheless, we fully share the view that the potential of cohesion policy to generate growth and jobs must be fully exploited.
What is worrying, however, is that the way in which this proposal – for the potential reprogramming of the funds scheduled for allocation by individual Member States to projects in the last two years of the current financial perspective – has been presented to public opinion has created false interpretations, unnecessarily undermining the image of the policy and of its real impact on growth and job creation.
Throughout the crisis Parliament has supported all Commission proposals aimed at strengthening the cohesion policy’s response to the crisis. In record time we adopted the amendments to the general regulation to increase co-financing rates. We are working very closely with the Commission and the Council to create a risk-sharing facility to facilitate use of funds in countries in distress.
Let me conclude by saying that we are all aware that there are problems concerning the take-up of funds in some countries. We appreciate the Commission’s efforts to help countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy in overcoming the austerity trap through the wise and efficient investment of structural funds."@en1
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