Structural Reform Support Programme for the period 2017 to 2020 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1303/2013 and (EU) No 1305/2013

Key points:

The EESC

• welcomes the initiative aimed at enhancing the capacity of the European Union (EU) to support structural reform at national level through a specific funding mechanism such as the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP);

• regrets that the total budget allocated to this fund falls far short of what is needed for the macroeconomic policy reforms in the EU;

• further regrets that the funding for the SRSP comes from existing ESIF (European Structural and Investment Funds) resources and calls for future reforms of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework to create a self-supporting structural reform support programme;

• calls strongly for the inclusion of social partners and civil society in the SRSP (identification and initiation of the support, design and monitoring at national, regional and local level);

• wants that eligible actions should include capacity building for social and civil society players involved in policy reform programmes;
• stresses that the programme must be open to local and regional authorities, which must be directly involved in putting together the structural reform project in question, when concerned.