Commission welcomes Parliament's votes on the future Cohesion Policy 2021-2027

Commission's proposal

This is a major step toward the adoption of the new framework, for a modernised Cohesion Policy with simpler rules and a focus on innovation, support to small and medium businesses, climate-related actions, employment and social inclusion. “I want to thank the Parliament for its work on this file and I welcome its positions, which endorse the architecture and key elements of our proposal,” said Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Crețu after the vote. “We will resume the trilogue discussions with the Parliament and the Council in the autumn, but in the meantime, we are making good progress in our discussions with the Member States on the future Cohesion Policy programmes and their priorities. This is of paramount importance so that investments can start on the ground as early as possible and in an efficient, targeted way.” On 27 February, as part of the European Semester process of economic policy coordination, the Commission launched a discussion on investment needs and challenges in the Member States and set out first ideas as to how EU funds, in particular Cohesion Policy funds, can help to achieve investment priorities in the EU budget period 2021-2027 (see press release here).The Commissionis now in contact with all Member States to discuss and define the future programming of the funds at national and regional levels.