The CoR writes to the EU Commission highlighting the urgent request coming from local and regional authorities which are still bearing the brunt of the pandemic's impact.
The results of a survey carried out by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) show a clear demand among local and regional authorities to extend the flexibility measures introduced last year to mobilise EU structural funds and state aid in the fight against COVID-19. Regions and cities need extraordinary rules to be maintained in order to secure the continuity of emergency investment and the deployment of crucial initiatives such as job retention schemes.
This request is included in
a letter
co-signed by the CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas and the chair of the CoR's COTER commission Isabelle Boudineau, addressed to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the commissioners responsible for the relevant policies.
Cities and regions have been at the forefront of COVID-19 crisis management
over the last year. The two Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives (
CRII
and
CRII+
) introduced exceptional and useful flexibility measures to use cohesion
policy funds 2014-2020 to finance measures related to the COVID-19
outbreak, such as investments in the healthcare sector, support for SMEs
and the labour market. In addition, the new
REACT-EU
programme, which is an emergency legislative initiative releasing EUR 47.5
billion through structural funds supporting the hardest hit member states
and regions, has just begun to be implemented by Member States.
To face the consequences of the pandemic on the ground and avoid any
interruption of vital investment in such a delicate phase, regional and
local leaders need to keep relying on this extraordinary regulatory
framework. In order to understand how the managing authorities of
structural funds have been dealing with these three emergency instruments,
the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (
COTER
) carried out a survey among CoR members.
The results
show a clear request to extend the flexibility measures included under CRII
and CRII+, in order to duly certify all eligible costs, to increase
permitted absorption rates and to reduce potential errors.
Along these lines, the European Commission should consider:
- an extension of the possibility of a 100% EU co-financing rate for another
year, beyond 30 June 2021,
- an extension of the "N+3" rule,
- a temporary increase in the de minimis state aid threshold.
The timely extension of the flexible rules would preserve investment needed
by citizens and businesses struggling with the crisis and alleviate the
workload of hundreds of regional managing authorities that are under
enormous stress to conclude 2014-20 cohesion programmes, launch the 2021-27
ones and contribute the kick-off of national recovery and resilience plans.
In
the letter
, President
Apostolos Tzitzikostas
and COTER chair
Isabelle Boudineau
underline that an extension of flexibility measures would support cities
and regions in their commitment to make the best use of cohesion policy
with increased efficiency, transparency and ownership, while also ensuring
the transition to a sustainable society as defined in the Sustainable
Development Goals and the EU Green Deal.
Background information:
The survey on the implementation of the Coronavirus Response Investment
Initiative (CRII and CRII+) was launched in May 2021 by the CoR's COTER
Commission. It gathered the views and experiences of 67 representatives of
local and regional authorities (officials, politicians or other), the
managing authorities of Structural Funds Operational Programmes, and from
other stakeholders at local and regional level concerned by CRII, CRII+ and
REACT-EU in 20 EU Member States. These are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden.
The results are available
here
.
Member States must always add a national co-financing to investments made
through structural funds. The co-financing rates vary from one EU country
to the other, and even from one region to another, because they depend on
the relative prosperity of EU territories. Among other simplified
procedures and flexibility, the CRII included the possibility for Member
States to apply a 100% EU co-financing rate to relevant
operational programmes, exempting them from the obligation to add a
national co-financing.
The "N+3 rule"
is
the decommitment methodology
applied to the 2014-2020 programming period. This means that the European
Commission will decommit any part of the amount in an operational programme
that has not been used by 31 December of the third financial year following
the year of budget commitment under the operational programme.
The de minimis aid
refers to small amounts of state aid to undertakings
(essentially companies) that EU countries do not have to notify the
European Commission about. The maximum amount is EUR 200 000 for each
undertaking over a 3-year period.
Contact:
Matteo Miglietta
Tel. +32 (0)470 895 382
matteo.miglietta@cor.europa.eu