The European Commission on Friday will present several changes to the use of regional policy funds, but these will not include an expected extension of the use of money from 2007, with Spain set to lose hundreds of millions of Euros.
The phrase Spaniards do not want to hear these days is that their country "faces the risk of de-commitment," meaning it could lose considerable amounts of its multi-billion EU regional aid by the end of this year.
Under present EU funding rules, which were strengthened in 2007 to prevent fraud and irregularities, member states have to get their national and regional frameworks for EU projects pre-audited and cross-checked by the European Commission, before any actual payments can be made. A small part of funding is given in advance, but most of it comes on a reimbursement basis.
Spain now risks losing hundreds of millions because most of its framework programmes have not been approved yet and claims for 2007 can only be submitted for reimbursement by 31 December 2009. The total amount Spain could claim for 2007 is €6.3 billion.
Madrid had pushed for a one-year extension of this rule, especially since new member states have three years at their disposal to submit reimbursement claims. Up until 2007, Spain also was in the three-year category.
Yet the proposals to be tabled on Friday by the European Commission do not include this change.
"The European Commission is working with Spain and all the member states to finalise this process as effectively as possibly," Dennis Abbott, spokesman for the EU commission told this website. "But we can't cut corners, not with taxpayers' money," he added.
A spokeswoman for the Spanish permanent representation to the EU refused to make any comments until the final proposals were published.
Spain's struggle with the tougher regulations is surprising, as the country has always been considered something of a champion of regional funding for the efficient way it used EU aid to boost its competitiveness and create new jobs.
As of Tuesday (14 July), Spain had submitted 22 of its 23 so-called compliance assessment reports which have to be approved by the commission in order to start the flow of EU money. But 16 regional reports and one national report were sent back for further clarification, since the control mechanisms and the structure of the intermediate bodies was unclear.
Italy and Great Britain are also facing similar problems, although their total amounts are far smaller.
Source: EU Observer |
