Creţu reproached for lack of direction on regional development policy

Corina Creţu, Romania’s EU commissioner–designate for Regional Policy, was criticised by members of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) following a hearing on Wednesday that was thin on detailed answers.

This signals a bigger confrontation between her political group, the socialist S&D party grouping, and the EPP, with the former threatening to withdraw its support for the embattled Spanish nominee, Miguel Arias Cañete, who faced a stormy reception in the European Parliament.

Creţu, an MEP for eight years, was politically skilled, stressing the importance of the Parliament, promising regular consultations and telling MEPs that she would pay a visit to each of their regions.

While this won her applause, many felt her answers to MEPs questions lacked detail and were less convincing.

Under the new 2014 - 2020 regional development budget, some €100 billion will be spent on research and innovation, information and communications technology, SMEs and the low-carbon economy. Despite being one of the largest budgets in the EU, Creţu had little to say on investment priorities.

Smart specialisation was name-checked only once, after an hour and a half of the hearing, despite representing a cherished Commission policy and a radical new way of administering regional funds. There was no focus on closing the yawning gap between the poor and wealthy regions.

Similarly, Creţu provided no answer to the problem of unpaid invoices under the cohesion policy, amounting to €23 billion at the end of last year. "This huge backlog creates many problems, not least in the member states already suffering from the crisis,” said Dutch MEP Lambert van Nistelrooij. "Payments are often well overdue, sometimes exceeding the 60-day payment deadline by several months."

Creţu took a firm line on fraud, repeating frequently that she would have a “zero tolerance” approach. Some felt that the matter received disproportionate focus given how small a problem it is in reality.  One per cent of regional funds were misappropriated between 2007 and 2013, according to an investigation carried out by European Anti-fraud Office.

There were no proposals on how she would combat fraud and irregularities. “You’ve been very general in your replies so far,” said Olaf Stuger, from the Dutch Freedom Party.

Meanwhile, members of the Committee of the Regions may have been dismayed to hear Creţu say that the Committee will be “a source of information" during her time in office, rather than a partner.

Notable points

Despite shaky moments, Creţu made a few important points, indicating clearly where she stands on some issues.

She said repeatedly that it is vital for member states to build competent administrations to process funding in the next five years. One idea was to send specialists from the European Commission to help.

Creţu showed good awareness that she must oversee a cultural shift in funding priorities. “[Things like] dog fitness centres or golf courses are no longer priorities: we can no longer allow ourselves the luxury of these kind of expenditures,” she said.

Many MEPs treated her as an ally rather than as someone who must be put through their paces. It was evident that MEPs feel that regional policy is under attack and vulnerable to budget cuts.

There was a feeling of almost existential crisis for the long-term survival of the portfolio. "I hope cohesion policy will be maintained after 2020," said Creţu at one point.

Taking on someone else’s reforms

Those defending her performance said it was one of the hardest briefs to prepare for. “She will spend the next five years implementing reforms made by her predecessor, Johannes Hahn, not new initiatives,” an MEP said privately after the session.

Creţu recognised her course has already been set out for her.

“I hope in the forthcoming period I’ll be creative but I can’t reinvent the wheel,” she said. “You adopted prevailing legislation [on 2014-2020 priorities], I can’t create more.”