European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised more powers for EU regions in a bid to quell a looming parliamentary rebellion ahead of a no-confidence vote on Thursday.
Socialists and liberals are threatening to abstain during the vote in a bid to extract political commitments from von der Leyen on the bloc's next seven-year budget, which she will present next Wednesday.
Von der Leyen has given a nod to critics ahead of a crucial no-confidence vote in the European Parliament that could seriously damage her leadership.
During a key meeting of party leaders in Strasbourg on Tuesday, von der Leyen said that payments to regions - which currently make up a a third of the EU's multi-year budget - will continue to be allocated to local authorities rather than national governments in the new budget, two people in the room told Politico.
However, von der Leyen's proposal was not enough to allay the concerns of the Socialists and Democrats, who have been increasingly critical of her leadership in recent weeks.
"We lacked clarity and commitment... If nothing changes, it will be difficult for the S&D to decide not to abstain on Thursday," a spokesperson for the group told Politico after Tuesday's meeting.
Von der Leyen is expected to survive the vote even if the Socialist and Liberal parliamentary groups abstain, as the proposal would need a two-thirds majority in parliament to pass. But it would send a strong message that she cannot count on the parliament's unconditional support.
The Socialists, the second-largest group in the European Parliament, have tied their support to preserving the European Social Fund, which is designed to fight poverty and support vulnerable groups.
Social Rights Commissioner Roxana Minzatu, a Socialist, is leading a push within the EU executive to save the fund.
"If you remove this from the budget, you will strike Europe at its heart and what will be left is a Europe without a soul," Mohamed Shahim told the European Parliament.
Supporters say Von der Leyen's turnaround is a "game changer" because it will make it harder for autocratic leaders such as Hungary's Viktor Orban to cut EU funding for regions run by political rivals.
The plan Von der Leyen's move to drastically increase national governments' powers in managing regional funds has been criticised by lawmakers across the spectrum and by several of her own commissioners.
They argue it will undermine local democracy and widen the gap between richer and poorer parts of Europe.
In a major concession, however, on Tuesday von der Leyen guaranteed that regions would continue to receive amounts set directly in Brussels.
She had earlier announced her decision in a private meeting with Polish Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin, who is also campaigning for a stronger role for regions.
But lawmakers and Italian Regions Commissioner Raffaele Fito are putting pressure on von der Leyen to go one step further. They support keeping a mechanism - known as the Berlin formula - that allocates a major share of cohesion funds to the bloc's less developed regions.
Discussions on this sensitive issue are expected to be resolved over the weekend during key talks between von der Leyen and several commissioners.