EP approves the reform of Cohesion Policy

On Wednesday, 20th November the European Parliament approved the reform of cohesion policy, which will focus on investments in key areas for growth and jobs. The reform sets out new rules for financing the real economy, puts more emphasis on results and establishes common rules for an easier use of all the five Structural Funds and European Investment. The European Commissioner for Regional policy Johannes Hahn affirmed that "Parliament has given its consent to the reforms that transformed the Cohesion Policy in the main European investment instrument to achieve the goals envisaged by Europe 2020". With an allocation of resources of 500 billion euro, equal to one-third of the total EU budget for the next seven years, Member States, regions and cities are called upon to take action in support of youth employment, SMEs, innovation and low carbon emission economy. "More than 74 billion euro will be invested to help millions of people to get a job and improve their skills," said the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor. The new Initiative for Youth Employment, with 3 billion euro, along with at least another 3 billion from the European Social Fund, will support the implementation of the Youth Guarantee. The formal adoption of the Cohesion Policy by the EU Council is now foreseen.