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In November we sent an open letter initiated by WWF and supported by 42 civil society organisations to the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the Partnership principle in the regulation on structural funds. In this letter we supported the original proposal from the Commission on the partnership principle, which underlines the need for an effective involvement of public and private stakeholders in the cohesion policy and territorial development in Europe. We also highlighted our concerns about the trend towards a dilution of this partnership principle, the decrease of socio-economic and civil society stakeholder’s participation and the deletion of the Code of conduct (see weekly update of November 12, 2012).

Recently we received a response from the Commission in which they assure us of the Commission’s determination to defend the objectives of its proposal on the partnership principle and the European Code of Conduct during negotiations. The Commission shares civil society organisations’ view that good governance of the partnership principle is essential for the effective and efficient delivery of the funds and their contribution to the achievement of the Europe 2020 strategy’s objectives. Good governance requires the involvement of all relevant stakeholders: public authorities, economic and social partners and civil society organisations – at all territorial levels.

They also inform us of the progress achieved in the negotiations with the Parliament and the Council on the programming of the funds, including the European Code of Conduct which is maintained so far. Finally they acknowledge that partners should have the necessary means to strengthen their capacity and be able to actively participate in the Committees set up for the running of programmes.