The European Commission agreed to measures that should make a significant contribution to getting some of the EU's most troubled economies back on track. Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Latvia and Hungary would be asked to contribute less to projects that they currently co-finance with the European Union.

The European Commission proposed a 'kind of Marshall Plan' as the President Barroso called, in order to find less national match-funding at a time when their domestic budgets are under considerable pressure and therefore programmes that have not been executed so far for lack of national funding may be launched and inject fresh money in the economy.

The proposal is an exceptional temporary measure, which ends as soon as the Member States stop receiving support under the financial assistance programmes. The Commission makes available for Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Latvia and Hungary, supplementary EU co-financing, vital for growth and competitiveness-boosting projects in each one of these countries. The measure does not represent new or additional funding but it allows an earlier reimbursement of funds already committed under EU cohesion policy, rural development and fisheries. Recently, the European Parliament defended the architecture of the structural funds.

It concerns Member States that have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial support under a programme from the Balance of Payments mechanism for countries not in the Euro area (Romania, Latvia and Hungary) or from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism for countries in the Euro area (Greece, Ireland and Portugal). The Commission will request that the Council and the European Parliament adopt the proposal in a fast-track legislative procedure by the end of 2011 to allow for the vital projects to get of the ground as soon as possible.