European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
Some Commission ideas in advance of its report
1.
How it started
2.
What has happened
3.
What has worked well – and less well
4.
Ideas for the future
1
European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
How it started
1.
Three rounds of Interreg programmes
2.
Some difficulties in establishing legal basis for
cooperation
3.
Desire to create ‘neutral’ basis for cooperation
2
European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
What has happened
1.
Regulation adopted in Summer 2006
2.
Negotiation harder than expected due to
Member States concern
3.
Cooperation programmes already prepared
by time EGTC available in Member States
3
European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
What has worked well – and less well
1.
Worked well:
a)
Existing EGTCs working well, and general satisfaction of
members
b)
Instrument is valuable for multi-level strategic cooperation
c)
More EGTCs now promoting and running projects
d)
Considerable desire for EGTC (37 created or under
preparation)
4
European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
What has worked well – and less well
2.
Worked less well
a)
Very few EGTCs set up to manage ERDF
programmes or projects
b)
Setting up EGTC much slower and more complex
than hoped
c)
EU level Regulation cannot resolve all practical
issues
5
European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
Ideas for the future – no decisions yet!
1.
Purpose of EGTC
•
•
2.
Setting-up process
•
•
3.
should be wider than European Territorial Cooperation in traditional
sense
Good for strategic cooperation and specific projects
Approval process needs to be simplified
Governments should be ‘presumed to approve’
Operations
•
Can’t prescribe solutions to all problems
•
Support wider measures to facilitate cross-border activity
6
European Union
Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EGTC after three years
What happens next?
1.
2.
Commission reports to Council and Parliament
Commission recommends modifications to
Regulations
•
3.
Including to other Cohesion Policy Regulations to ensure that
the instrument is not handicapped by incompatibilities
Consultations lead to improved Regulation
•
Don’t want radical changes that would disrupt existing
EGTCs
7