Europees Parlement wil meerjarenbudgetten voor regionaal beleid op versneld aanwenden voor landen met grootste problemen (en)

To spur recovery in regions hardest hit by the crisis, the EU should pay up to 95% of regional development project costs in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Latvia and Hungary, said Regional Development Committee MEPs on Wednesday, backing Commission proposals to this end.

The thinking behind the two EU regulations proposed by the European Commission on 1 August was praised by all MEPs at Wednesday's meeting with rapporteur Danuta Hübner i and representatives of the Commission and the Polish Presidency i of the Council.

Specific and temporary measures for Member States that have benefited from EU financial assistance programmes would enable them to ask the EU to reimburse up to 95% of project costs. However, the EU budget for these countries and projects for 2007-2013 would remain unchanged, and the Community budget would be unaffected.

Release funding faster...

Regional Development Committee MEPs, who want the additional funding released as fast as possible to help counter the impact of the crisis on the real economy and labour markets, hope to reach a first-reading agreement with the Council before the end of the year.

... to boost growth and create jobs

Many MEPs stressed the need to ensure that the projects concerned are run transparently, in compliance with the rules in force, and have strong job-creating potential. Rapporteur Danuta Hübner (EPP, PL) said that in talks with the Council, she wished to focus on three issues: whether the temporary measures would apply retroactively, whether Member States could take part in the system automatically, and follow-up and reporting rules.

MEPs have until 14 October to table amendments to the two proposals, which will be put to a Regional Development Committee vote in November. 

In the chair: Danuta Hübner (EPP, PL)