EN Official Journal of the European Union C 24/81

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 as regards certain provisions relating to financial management for certain Member States experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability’

COM(2011) 482 final — 2011/0211 (COD)

2012/C 24/17

Rapporteur-General: Mr SMYTH

On the 2nd September and 5 October 2011 respectively, the Council and the European Parliament decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 177 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on the

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 as regards certain provisions relating to financial management for certain Member States experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability

COM(2011) 482 final — 2011/0211 (COD).

On 20 September 2011 the Committee Bureau instructed the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion to prepare the Committee's work on the subject.

Given the urgent nature of the work, the European Economic and Social Committee appointed Mr Smyth as rapporteur-general at its 475th plenary session, held on 26 and 27 October 2011 (meeting of 27 October), and adopted the following opinion by 89 votes to 2 with 4 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1 The EESC notes the Commission's proposal to amend Regulation 1083/2006 increasing payments to countries affected by the crisis and receiving assistance from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) or Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for the period that they are under these support mechanisms, but without increasing their overall allocation under the Union's cohesion policy for the programming period 2007-13.

1.2 The EESC approves the proposal.

1.3 The EESC nevertheless regrets that the Commission, building on its Communication Regional policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020 COM(2010) 553, has not gone one step further and proposed a 100 % EU financing facility for Innovation and R&D-related projects which would notably benefit SMEs and would contribute towards achieving some of the goals set out by the Europe 2020 strategy.

2. Reason

2.1 Under the Commission's proposal, currently six countries falling under the EFSM and BoP mechanisms would be required to contribute less to projects that they co-finance in the framework of EU cohesion policy. Thus, they would have to find less national match-funding, which at a time when their domestic budgets are under considerable pressure would make a significant contribution towards getting these troubled economies back on track.

2.2 The Committee agrees that it is vital to boost prosperity and competitiveness in the Member States most hit by the crisis and therefore supports the above-mentioned proposal.

2.3 In October 2010, the Commission adopted a Communication entitled: Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020 Com(2010) 553 which clearly underscores the importance of developing Innovation and Research and Development throughout the Union and highlights the role that Regional Policy can play in this matter. The Communication also highlights the relative slow uptake hitherto of funding available for Innovation. It is therefore a missed opportunity that the current proposal does not allow for up to 100 % financing by the Union of Innovation projects, which would particularly be of benefit to SMEs.