The European Parliament adopted by 489 votes to 170, with 32 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2017/825 to increase the financial envelope of the structural reform support programme and adapt its general objective.
The European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:
Objectives: it is specified that the structural reform support programme was established with the aim of strengthening the capacity of Member States to prepare and implement administrative and growth-sustaining structural reforms of interest to the Union, in particular through the provision of assistance to ensure the effective use of Union funds. The programme shall also support measures to strengthen social inclusion and contribute to real convergence within the Union.
Given that demand for support may exceed the programme’s funding, the requests shall be prioritised, where appropriate, by the Member State concerned during the request for support procedure. In that context, attention should be paid to requests for support that are related to the European Semester and the policy areas of cohesion, innovation, employment, and smart and sustainable growth. The programme shall complement other instruments in order to avoid duplication without replacing funding from national budgets.
In addition, Member States shall encourage suitable contributions and involvement of national and regional public administration and stakeholders. The text also emphasises the importance of effective communication on the programme's activities and results at Union, national and regional level, to raise awareness of the programme's results and ensure its visibility, as well as to provide information on its impact on the ground.
Financing: in a joint statement annexed to the legislative resolution, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed on the following:
- EUR 40 million will be financed through the budget line of the SRSP located in Heading 1b (13.08.01) of the MFF (Economic, social and territorial cohesion) by mobilising the Global margin for commitments in accordance with the MFF Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 in the framework of the budgetary procedure;
- EUR 40 million will be financed through the budget line of the SRSP located in Heading 2 (13.08.02) of the MFF (Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources) by redeployments other than technical assistance and Rural Development within this Heading and without having recourse to the margins. The exact sources for such redeployments will be further specified in due course having regard to the negotiations of the budgetary procedure for the 2019 budget.
The Commission will identify and propose redeployments of up to EUR 40 million in Heading 2 of the MFF (Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources) in the amending letter to the draft general budget 2019.