This own initiative opinion has been drafted in response to the Commission staff working document adopted on 24 April 2012 and which sets out its current thinking of what a European Code of Conduct on Partnership (ECCP) should look like during the forthcoming cohesion policy programming period. The EESC has strongly defended the need for an ECCP; in the meantime the Council has indicated that it wishes to delete all reference to an ECCP upon which the EESC President has written to the Council, Parliament and Commission arguing the need to maintain the Commission's proposals as is.
The EESC is deeply worried about the increasing concern felt among organised civil society with regard to the implementation of the partnership principle. Reports from some Member States show an on-going trend towards a dilution of this partnership principle and a decrease of participation by organised civil society.
Letter by President Staffan Nilsson to the Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy in the European Union on the importance of the Partnership principle in the Common Provisions Regulation
The EESC has looked very carefully at the proposed Common Strategic Framework (CSF) which is now fully integrated in the draft Common Provisions Regulation and seeks to translate the objectives of the Union's Cohesion Policy into practice through better coordination between the several EU Structural Funds. The EESC has also listened carefully to the various points of view expressed by the representatives of organised civil society during a successful and well-attended hearing. The EESC supports the creation of a Common Strategic Framework; an effective CSF will also remove the unnecessary and inefficient separation that currently exists between the key funds. The EESC cautions, however, against additional bureaucracy or administrative complexity arising from the CSF and argues for a strong and genuine implementation of the partnership principle.
State aid modernisation is of strategic importance for the EU in a highly competitive globalised economy. The EESC shares in its opinion the Commission's vision but considers that this ambitious reform needs clarification in certain respects. The importance of this reform and of the EESC's opinion is illustrated by the fact that the rapporteur was invited to meet personally with the Commissioner Almunia.
