Source: European Parliament
The Commission’s proposal of 1 April 2025[1] for a regulation amending the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund, and the Just Transition Fund as regards specific measures to address specific challenges in the context of the mid-term review does not propose a change to the distribution of the resources across the different categories of regions, nor to the provisions governing possible transfers between categories of regions or to the methodology on the allocation per Member State[2].
Therefore, required resources for less developed regions cannot be used for transition or more developed regions. Furthermore, the possibilities provided for in the proposal are of a voluntary nature and amendments of individual programmes require prior approval by the relevant monitoring committee before they are submitted to the Commission.
The implementation data submitted by the Member States indicates that some of the 2021-2027 resources remain unallocated. At a time of mounting challenges and limited fiscal space, it is necessary to maximise the utilisation of the available allocations, and the managing authorities will have the opportunity to direct them towards strategic investments that address urgent challenges which risk weakening the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU.