The European fund for strategic investment (EFSI) is Europe's newest attempt to speed up economic recovery. I was a little sceptical about the outcome of this strategy because we haven't yet made any real reforms for boosting private investment. But the report we are working on now is forcing the commission to do just that and, if adopted, could make a difference.
The EFSI, combined with certain reforms to make private investment more efficient, could certainly help the European economy grow but it is crucial that it doesn't undermine the strategic coherence and long-term perspective of cohesion policy programming.
I understand that the success of the EFSI is of crucial importance to commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and his college of commissioners, but we should not undermine our long-term policies to make it work. I therefore think that any redirection of structural funds would be counterproductive and could jeopardise the balanced development of European regions.
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The flexibility in the project selection within the EFSI could undermine the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the European Union by channelling more investment to more developed member states. This scenario is in collision with the goals of cohesion policy and should be avoided at all costs.
Our report recognises this threat and calls on the commission to closely monitor the relationship between the EFSI and the European structural and investment fund (EFSI).
My second concern is connected with the greatest challenge facing cohesion policy, which is the administrative capacity of the states, particularly those that are less developed. Without strong administrative capacity, states won't just risk losing the direct benefits of funds from the previous financial period but will also be unprepared for the new cohesion policy.
Combined with the significant delay in the implementation of the 2014-2020 cohesion policy and the delay in adoption of operating programmes, this lack of capacity could endanger our goals of growth and recovery.
Our report also points out that a simplification of management and procedures would allow for error rates in the implementation of cohesion programmes to be reduced. I believe, the complexity of EU regulation and procedures is just as responsible for fraud cases as malicious intentions. Therefore, I'm glad that we are trying to make things as simple as possible and I hope the commission will recognise this and join us in this initiative.
To succeed in his mission of boosting growth and jobs, Juncker needs a contribution from the private sector. This is the part I am most sceptical about because I think we haven't done nearly enough to revitalise European small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by cutting red tape and reducing the administrative and tax burden.
I think we made a significant step in the right direction in our report by emphasising the key role SMEs have in job creation, smart growth and calling for a favourable regulatory environment that is conducive to the setting up and running of such enterprises.