The European Parliament adopted by 558 votes to 57, with 16 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending, under the first reading of the ordinary legislative procedure, the proposal for a regulation (EC) No .../2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 on the European Regional Development Fund as regards the eligibility of housing interventions in favour of marginalised communities.
The amendments adopted in plenary are the result of a compromise negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council.
The main amendments were as follows:
The compromise underlines that in several Member States, for marginalised communities living in urban or outside urban areas, housing constitutes a decisive factor of integration. Therefore, it is necessary to extend the eligibility of expenditure on housing interventions in all Member States in favour of these communities living in urban or rural areas.
The amended text states that expenditure on housing, except for energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy shall be eligible in the following cases:
· for the Member States that acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004 and in the framework of an integrated urban development approach for areas experiencing or threatened by physical deterioration and social exclusion;
· for all Member States only in the framework of an integrated approach for marginalised communities. In this case, the expenditure may include the renovation and change of use of existing buildings.
The Commission shall adopt the list of criteria needed for determining the targeted areas and the list of eligible interventions in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 103(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.
A new recital states that uniform conditions of implementation should be ensured for the adoption of the list of criteria needed for determining the areas experiencing or threatened by physical deterioration and social exclusion and of the list of eligible interventions. According to Article 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for the control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of its implementing powers shall be laid down in advance by a regulation adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. Pending the adoption of that new regulation and in order to avoid any disruption in the Union's legislative action the provisions of Council Decision 1999/468/EC (comitology) should continue to be applied.