Member states seek to strengthen EU cohesion funding

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, together with prime ministers and ministers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, is in Bratislava to take part in the 'Friends of Cohesion' Conference.

The conference is discussing the next EU's budgetary programming period, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014 - 2020 and particularly proposals related to reforms to Cohesion funding.

The Cohesion Policy remains a key investment tool for the participating countries in terms of stimulating economic growth and job creating. The participating states share a consensus that further decrease of the Cohesion policy funding - on top of the current Commission proposal - would not match the ambitions repeated in successive European Council conclusions nor the Treaty and the Europe 2020 Strategy objectives.

The participating states are seeking to ensure that the overall level of resources allocated to the Cohesion policy should be in line with the Commission proposal in order to achieve common European goals.

The cohesion funding should remain concentrated on less developed regions and Member States, while recognising the need to help regions exiting convergence and phasing out regions to reach a higher level of development.