Establishing the European Fund for Regional Development including for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) and the Cohesion Fund

Key points

The EESC:

• stresses that the need to reduce regional and territorial disparities remains one of the key priorities of EU integration and that the use of traditional, proven and effective cohesion policy instruments is the right way forward to support sustainable prosperity across all regions of the EU;
• recommends clarifying the role of the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund (CF) within the National Regional Partnership Fund (NRPF), not only through general and specific objectives, but also through specific elaboration in the regulation. The EESC would welcome it if the draft regulation to which this opinion relates were to be elaborated and supplemented at least by an annex offering guidance on how to effectively integrate the ERDF and the CF into the NRPF;
• insists that the new arrangements should not lead to a reduction in the importance and mission of the ERDF and the CF, particularly in supporting the development of lagging regions and the transformation of industrial areas. It also emphasises the importance of the partnership principle in the design of future programmes;
• agrees with the content and thematic focus of the future Interreg programme and its synergies with the Global Europe programme in the specific cases proposed;
• generally, agrees with the innovative approach of the proposal regarding the future of the established Interreg programme, particularly in terms of accepting the implementation structure at the level of the individual chapters of the Interreg Plan;
• draws attention to the risk of the relevant actors at regional cross-border level not being able to reach an agreement, given that the draft regulation is not very detailed. It also recommends adopting the implementing act immediately after the regulation is adopted;
• recommends ensuring that the interpretation and implementation of the funds at Member State level are comparable and that there are no significant differences between Member States;
• supports the simplification of implementation and administrative processes for more efficient use of funds;
• appreciates that the proposal for a Regulation on the ERDF and the CF also provides for the possibility of supporting sustainable urban development and, within that framework, integrated urban and territorial development strategies focused on sustainable development and addressing challenges in the areas of the environment, energy and climate, fair transition to a clean, climate-neutral and resilient economy, with particular attention to affordable housing , poverty, cultural heritage and the use of the potential of digital technologies for innovation and energy efficiency.