Political agreement reached on Structural Reform Support Programme – a new tool to help Member States implement reforms

The European Commission welcomes the agreement yesterday evening with the European Parliament and Council of Ministers on the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP). The programme provides financing for the technical support that the Commission makes available to Member States at their request, under the coordination of the Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS). The SRSS coordinates and provides support to Member States for the design and implementation of administrative and structural reforms, in coordination with the Commission services. The service currently works with nine Member States and more countries have already asked for support. The SRSP, with a budget of EUR 142.8 million to cover 2017-2020, will enable the Commission to strengthen further its support to Member States. Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, said: “Today’s political agreement is a major new step towards enhancing the partnership between the European Commission and Member States. It paves the way for the Commission to provide targeted and tailor-made expertise that helps Member States carry out the reforms they consider necessary to make their economies more competitive and investment-friendly, resulting in stronger economic growth and creating more jobs. We look forward to a formal agreement by the two institutions soon so that work can start in earnest.”