Press release
Minister of State O’ Donovan attends EU General Affairs Council to discuss Cohesion Policy
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Patrick O’Donovan TD, with special responsibility for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment attended the General Affairs Council (Cohesion) meeting in Luxembourg today (12 April 2018).
This meeting, under the Bulgarian presidency of the council of the EU, was a strategic discussion of the priorities for Cohesion Policy post-2020. This is in advance of the forthcoming announcements by the commission on the new EU budget package.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister O’Donovan acknowledged that Ireland benefitted significantly from Cohesion Policy in the past, and reiterated that Ireland continues to highly value Cohesion Policy as an important tool to stimulate economic growth, promote social cohesion and to reduce disparities between the regions of the EU.
He stated that:
"It is important to continue to support and assist all regions, and, in particular the less developed regions of the EU."
He also expressed his view that now is an opportune time:
“to examine how Cohesion Policy can be more efficient” and that it was “incumbent upon all of us to ensure that value for money is obtained”.
He strongly stressed the need for further simplification of the regulations governing the eligibility and payment of structural funds, the need for differentiation and for greater flexibility.
Mr O’Donovan said that:
“We must be ambitious for the future. Our post 2020 priorities must drive and underpin EU competitiveness and growth in an increasingly competitive global stage.
“The EU, as a cohesive, more prosperous and cutting edge Global Economic force is better placed to face both existing and new challenges such as Brexit, migration, security and climate change.”
The minister also took the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with two of his counterparts:
Commenting on the bilateral meetings with Minister Terho, Minister O’Donovan said:
“Finland assumes the EU presidency in the second half of 2019. As well as discussing Cohesion Policy post-2020 we reflected on the close relationship which Ireland enjoys with our Nordic Baltic partners, including Finland, with whom we share a number of common positions.”
Following his meeting with Lord Henley, Minister O’ Donovan said:
“I took the opportunity of our meeting to underline the importance the Irish government attaches to European territorial co-operation programmes funded by the European Union.”
ENDS
The Budget for Cohesion Policy in 2014 – 2020 at an EU level amounted to €352 billion or one third of the total EU budget.
It is an important tool to stimulate economic growth and promote social cohesion, and it is seen as a concrete demonstration of European solidarity, as it ensures the benefits of increased economic activity are more equally shared.
Under this policy Ireland was allocated approximately €1.2 billion of structural funds for the period 2014-2020, which is broken down as follows:
The funding is being used to support a range of projects across the country including: