Contribution of the cohesion policy to the achievement of Lisbon objectives

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the contribution of the Cohesion policy to the achievement of Lisbon and the EU2020 objectives.

The Cohesion policy and Lisbon Strategy: Members observe that in the programme allocations for 2007-2013 approximately EUR 228 billion over the 7-year period has been earmarked to the Lisbon priorities. They recall that already in the 2000-2006 period, despite the absence of an earmarking mechanism, the link between cohesion policy programmes and the Lisbon Strategy was strong with EUR 10.2 billion invested in research and innovation.

Parliament takes the view that the original Lisbon Strategy, based solely on the open method of coordination, was structurally unable to obtain its stated goals and that it was only when it was linked to the Cohesion policy that true results were reached. It stresses that this error should be avoided in the proposed EU2020 strategy.

The Commission is called upon to assess the territorial impact of earmarking Structural Funds to the Lisbon Strategy and to prepare a forthright evaluation of the shortcomings in the Lisbon strategy implementation. The Commission is urged to come up with a proposal for evaluation indicators before 2012 in order to provide the means to measure the impact produced, also as regards quantity and quality, and to make the necessary adjustments for the next programming period.

The main statements made in this resolution are as follows:

• a weak multi-level governance was one of the main limits of the Lisbon Strategy, with the insufficient involvement of regional and local authorities and civil society in the design, implementation, communication and evaluation of the strategy. Members recommend their stronger integration in the future at all stages;
• when the partnership principle was applied in the Lisbon Strategy, it has increased the sense of ownership of the objectives by the local and regional authorities, as well as by the economic and social stakeholders, and ensured higher sustainability of the interventions. It calls on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the partnership principle in the Member States more effectively;
• the weak synergies that existed between National Strategic Reference Frameworks and the National Reform Programmes under the strategy. It recommends a stronger and regular dialogue at all levels, including the Community level, between administrations responsible for the cohesion policy and the Lisbon/EU2020 Strategies and the relevant partners from the monitoring committee;
• the financial engineering instruments, in particular JEREMIE and JESSICA should be strengthened to ensure better support to business and SMEs. Members recommend that the rules governing these instruments be simplified to allow their greater use by beneficiaries.

Cohesion policy and EU2020: Members consider that the EU2020 strategy must be an integral part in the achievement of the goal of territorial cohesion, included as a new objective in the Lisbon Treaty. It stresses the long-term nature of this strategy that aims to create framework conditions for stable growth and jobs creation in Europe and a transition to a sustainable economy, and agrees with the identified priorities.

Parliament calls for the need to ensure an efficient and extensive infrastructure by modernising transport systems, introducing non-polluting transport arrangements, improving access to drinking water and drainage and waste management systems, introducing more effective environmental management, and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources and renewable energies, with a view to economic development and improved cohesion.

Members welcome the call for more sustainable, smart jobs, but acknowledges that a new economic model might lead to an uneven distribution of costs and benefits among individual Member States and regions, and thus in order to prevent this happening, they call on the Union to take responsibility and identify key areas of action where, according to the principle of subsidiarity, European level intervention is the most appropriate to achieve the best results for all.Stressing that research and innovation are key instruments for the development of the EU, Members call in this regard for a better coordination of the Structural Funds and the Framework Programme to maximise the benefits of the funding for research and innovation in the future and for the development of regional innovative clusters within and between Member States.

Parliament welcomes the recognition of the role of the Structural Funds in the delivery of the EU2020 goals. It stresses, however, that the cohesion policy is not just the source of stable financial allocations but is also a powerful instrument for the economic development of all of Europe's regions. It emphasises that a strong and well-financed cohesion policy, embracing all European regions, must be a key element of the EU2020 Strategy. It rejects all attempts to renationalise the cohesion policy and ask for the regional dimension to be fully supported in the review of the EU budget.

The resolution makes the following recommendations:

• whilst the cohesion policy's priorities should be aligned with the EU2020 objectives, sufficient flexibility should be allowed to accommodate regional specificities and support the weaker and neediest regions to overcome their socio-economic difficulties, natural handicaps and reduce disparities;
• the governance system should be improved compared to the Lisbon Strategy: the resolution recommends its design and implementation, while using Cohesion and structural funds, according to the multi-level governance principle so as to ensure the greater involvement of local and regional authorities and civil society stakeholders;
• the EU2020 strategy must be an integral part in the achievement of the goal of territorial cohesion, included as a new objective in the Lisbon Treaty. A stronger territorial dimension of the strategy, considering the specificities and different development levels of the European regions will lead to a greater sense of ownership of its goals at all levels and ensure a better awareness of objectives and outputs on the ground;
• considers it essential to ensure the provision of joint statistics, as well as reading capacity in respect of the indicators, at both local and regional level;
• the key role of cities in achieving the EU2020 goals. Members urge that their experience and contribution be taken into account in implementing the EU2020 priorities, especially as regards climate change, social integration, demographic change and investments in sustainable economic development, energy, transport, water management, health care, public safety etc;
• the Commission should present concrete proposals for creating synergies between the cohesion policy and existing sectoral policies according to an integrated approach;
• the Union should continue to use, as its main financing mechanisms, the Cohesion Fund and structural funds. Members consider it unnecessary to create new separate thematic funds to address the EU2020 goals and instead deems that they should be included in cohesion and rural development policies;
• the adoption of a simplified approach to the use of the Structural Funds in the future regulatory framework;
• the Commission is recommended to undertake an annual review of the priorities of the EU-2020 Strategy, on the basis of the results obtained in implementing this strategy.

Members call on the Commission to present to the Parliament as soon as possible a structured working programme for the implementation of the Strategy. Moreover, they call for a clear working document setting out the relationship between the Strategy and the Cohesion policy.