Time for renewal

I am writing the introductory paragraph to this article at Luxembourg airport as I am about to catch a flight to Malta. Writing articles in airports or on planes is something I have done often enough in the past, especially when I was attending the European Parliament, when I used to travel back and forth every week. What makes this trip different is that I am travelling on the same plane as my fellow members of the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Every year the ECA organises an internal seminar for its members, with the venue being a different member state each year. The seminar provides an opportunity for a broad discussion of particular themes that are expected to influence the ECA's role, the environment in which it operates and the way in which it needs to discharge its duties. Although covered by a detailed agenda, the seminar format allows for greater informality and more flexibility than the usual meetings of the court and this facilitates the debate on matters of a strategic nature which are intrinsically complex because they are constantly evolving.

Last year, the ECA's seminar was held in Weimar, Germany, and it was on that occasion that I had suggested Malta as the next venue. I am very happy that my proposal was accepted and it is indeed a pleasure for me to be able to welcome my fellow colleagues to Malta. Although each ECA member is originally nominated by his native country, our posts at the ECA are not linked to the specific countries and our allegiance is to the European communities as a whole.

Nevertheless, it is still the custom within the ECA that the organisation of its annual seminar is entrusted upon the member in whose country it is being held - which in this case means me and my cabinet. It is something which we have done with relish.

The seminar brings together in Malta the president, the other 24 members and the secretary-general of the ECA. It is therefore bound to be the highest level activity by any one of the EU institutions to have been held in Malta, to date. In addition to the seminar proper, the programme includes a number of cultural activities, including a reception hosted by the President of Malta and a dinner hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

My formal role in the seminar is that of a member of the ECA but my broader role in the programme is that of the Maltese host welcoming his counterparts to Malta. Hence, I am hoping that the seminar will not only be an interesting and productive one but also a pleasant experience for my colleagues and an enjoyable, albeit short, stay in Malta.

Regional policy

During the week that preceded the seminar, the ECA received the visit of Danuta Hubner, Commissioner for Regional Policy. The ECA is always careful to underline its independence from the Commission and the other EU institutions since this is a pre-requisite to the effective execution of its function as the EU's external auditor. However, it is also equally ready to facilitate contacts with the other institutions where such contacts can help to secure what is ultimately the common objective: give better value to European citizens.

Ms Hubner's visit provided a useful opportunity for DG REGIO to explain in greater detail its current drive to identify potential weaknesses in the control systems that are relevant in the application of European Regional Development Funding and in its efforts to formulate improvements to these controls.

This endeavour by DG REGIO must be seen within the context of the proposal, made by the Commission last year, for a Council Regulation establishing a new set of provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund in the period 2007-2013; the draft regulation is currently being discussed within the Council of the European Union.

From a control point of view, the principal challenge within the application of the structural and cohesion funds is the concept of shared management. This refers to the fact that responsibility for structural fund expenditure lies with both the Commission and the individual member states. Hence effective control requires the commitment of both, as well as procedures which can secure the necessary co-ordination between them.

Ms Hubner also touched upon these themes in two recent speeches in Brussels, on October 10 in the opening session of the European week of Regions and Cities, and on October 11 in connection with a ministerial seminar on 'Reforming Cohesion Policy'. On the second occasion, Ms Hubner dwelt at some length on two specific, new initiatives that are being put forward by the Commission, namely JEREMIE and JASPERS.

Besides having nice-sounding acronyms, these initiatives seek to address some very important aspects in an effort to promote greater economic growth and employment.

JEREMIE stands for Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises. It is about improving the supply of risk capital to SMEs, with a particular focus on enterprises operating at the local level. Other instruments have already been announced for the promotion of risk capital, not in the least under the new Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, directed by DG Enterprise.

The novelty about JEREMIE is that it will seek to provide managing authorities, responsible for the implementation of structural funds, with easy access to assistance from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop the necessary financial engineering capability to launch and manage risk-capital schemes where they can best be exploited, in practice, by local SMEs.

In the words of Ms Hubner: "The Commission and the EIB Group have jointly developed the JEREMIE initiative to improve access to finance for SMEs and to develop micro-credit at the regional level."

JASPERS stands for Joint Assistance for Preparing Projects in European Regions and will seek to provide a pool of relevant expertise to help with the preparation of major projects in convergence regions. It will be a new facility to assist European regions, eligible for structural funds, to prepare high-quality project proposals which should also enable the Commission to expedite procedures for the approval of the relevant funding.

This facility will be provided on the basis of expertise to be made available by the EIB and by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Part of the JASPERS staff will be based in Luxembourg, where the EIB has its head office.

The objective of both JEREMIE and JASPERS is not to replace existing facilities but to complement them by providing additional expertise where it can be most beneficial and where it can be more readily used by those who have lagged behind in exploiting existing structures.

In the past, there have been those who perceived the application of structural and cohesion funds as being of direct benefit to convergence regions but saw them as being largely extraneous to the achievement of higher growth and greater employment in the rest of the EU. However, today there is a clear recognition that cohesion policy must become a key instrument in the implementation of the renewed Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment which must be seen as providing a common objective for the whole of the EU.

This involves making member states, at both the national and regional levels, attractive for investment, promoting innovation and creating more and better jobs.