A defender of EU cohesion funding

The summit of EU leaders in Brussels today and tomorrow (28-29 June) will mark a step-change in discussions about the EU’s long-term budget, with EU leaders opening debate on the specifics of where the EU should spend money between 2014 and 2020.

Poland’s central position is clear: it is in the vanguard of an informal group of 15 countries determined to defend the cohesion policy from the efforts of member states such as the Netherlands and the UK that want to slash or freeze the EU’s budget.

It is easy for others to paint this as self-interest. Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has benefited substantially from the policy, which is intended for the Union’s poorer regions.

But Poland’s argument goes beyond solidarity. As Piotr Serafin, its minister for European affairs, told European Voice this week, Poland sees the cohesion policy as critical to stimulating growth in the member states. “This is not a symbolic discussion; this is real,” Serafin said. “This is very much linked with the growth prospects of many countries.”

That was a message that Poland promoted with only limited success during its presidency of the Council of Ministers in the second half of 2011. However, Serafin believes that there has been a “change of mood” among the member states in recent weeks about the importance of cohesion spending as an economic stimulus.

He said that EU member states had “discovered” the EU budget and, in particular, cohesion policy as an instrument to “promote investments” and “support structural reforms at the national level” – an instrument whose importance is increased by being at their disposal immediately.

The timing of the debate on the multiannual financial framework – with the eurozone in crisis and growth sluggish almost everywhere (Poland itself being a notable exception) – may come to Poland’s aid as it seeks to persuade richer member states to protect cohesion policy.

Growth prospects

Serafin also invokes growth as a reason for a swift decision. A deal is needed by the end of the year “as a signal for growth”. That will be a challenge. If member states fail to reach agreement on the main points of dispute by the end of August, when ministers for European affairs meet in Nicosia, it will become very difficult to conclude the negotiations with MEPs before the end of the year.

“We need to have a deal by the end of the year, including with the European Parliament,” he said. “It’s do-able.”

Failure would, he warns, create a “messy” situation of emergency budgets without political guidance. In total, the MFF requires approximately 70 sector-specific acts to be adopted.

That concern about improvisation may reflect anxiety that Poland has yet to generate the momentum needed to win the argument about cohesion policy, a policy that has so far been the main EU-funded means of growth support for Poland.

Another area of vulnerability for Poland is its handling of EU money. The annual activity report from the European Commission’s department for regional policy, published earlier this month, estimated that Poland had the third-highest risk of irregularities in cohesion spending, after the Czech Republic and Spain.

Serafin defended his country’s performance in implementing regional funding. “I’m proud of how the community resources are being spent in Poland, of how they are contributing to growth in Poland,” he said. “I see no major problems in Poland.”