“It’s more or less what we asked for,” said a senior lawmaker who is involved in the discussions.
Another point of contention is the Commission’s proposal to merge the regional and agricultural budget into a single cash pot handled by national governments ― who would get significant leeway over how to spend the money.
This has sparked outrage among mayors and regional leaders, who fear they will have no say regarding the funds.
In order to fix this issue, the EU executive has now suggested giving regional leaders more power to determine how the money is being spent ― including by giving them a seat at the table in key planning meetings between national governments and Commission officials.
In a further concession, the Commission proposed guarantees to reduce the risk of national governments cutting payments to more developed regions. This comes on top of a €218 billion guarantee for payments to poorer areas in July.
Finally, the Commission suggested giving Parliament a bigger role in deciding how the EU’s public funding is being spent.
The proposed changes will prove controversial with national capitals, who are currently amending the Commission’s proposal and generally oppose giving early concessions to Parliament.
Bartosz Brzeziński contributed to this report.
