As this issue went to press, the fate of the Lisbon Treaty was still in the hands of Irish voters, who were preparing for a referendum, on 2 October. If the treaty enters into force, there will be a significant change in future negotiations on Cohesion Policy and the Structural Funds. Co-decision between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament will be the norm. MEPs will have a greater say in adopting the rules of the game. The general Structural Funds regulation is now adopted under the assent procedure. This gives the European Parliament the choice of accepting or rejecting it, but not making amendments.

Although this has not sometimes ruled out close consultations with the Council of Ministers, it is clear that the new procedure will give a whole new dimension to negotiations between the two institutions. Who knows what Cohesion Policy may have been today if Parliament had had a greater say in 2006, when the Structural Fund regulations were adopted? On a number of points it has proved to be an objective – though not influential – ally of the European Commission for introducing key innovations, such as the idea of a reserve of EU funds to reward outstanding programmes and the reallocation of unused funds to the regional policy budget rather than the general EU budget, that ended up being rejected in Council. Next time, the balance of power will be different. The clout of the EP Committee on Regional Development, accustomed to issuing regular own-initiative reports, will be considerably strengthened.