Regional policy of the European Union

The regional policy of the European Union aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion within the European Union. This will be done by means of reducing structural disparities between regions, as well as through the promotion of balanced regional development. Regional policy is the multiannual financial framework for the period 2007-2013, the second largest item in the EU budget.

Financial instruments of European regional policy

Regional policy is particularly financed from this fund established from which EU countries and regions receive aids that are geared to the goals of the funding periods. In the programming period 2007-2013 is the first time any European region eligible, though not from any fund. The following Funds are the EU's regional policy are available:

  • European Regional Development Fund (ERDF )
  • European Social Fund (ESF )
  • Cohesion Fund
  • Instrument for Pre -Accession Assistance ( IPA)
  • Solidarity Fund of the European Union ( EUSF)
  • European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD )
  • European Guarantee Fund (EAGF )
  • European Fisheries Fund ( EFF)
  • Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions ( JASPERS short - en: Joint Assistance in Supporting Projects in European Regions )
  • Joint European Resources for Micro and Medium Enterprises ( JEREMIE short - en: Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises )
  • Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas ( JESSICA short - en: Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas)
  • Joint Action to Support Micro-finance Institutions in Europe ( JASMINE short - en: Joint Action to Support Micro -finance Institutions in Europe)

See also: EU support

History

The beginnings of the promotion are in the 1960s. The gradual emergence of a market in agriculture (as of 1957) made ​​the establishment of a European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund for Agriculture required the "guidance " also measures of regional policy financed. The accession of Great Britain and Ireland in 1973 with their respective structurally weak regions could appear the formulation of a genuine structural policy offered.

Programming period 2000-2006

For the programming period 2000-2006, the following key objectives were:

  • Objective 1: Promotion of regions whose development is lagging behind ( lagging. GDP per capita in the region of maximum 75% of the EU average ) or sparsely populated regions ( 8 inhabitants / km ²), in Germany, all new federal states. For the period 2000-2006, a total of 50 regions that comprise 22 % of the European population, classified as an Objective 1 area.
  • Objective 2: areas with structural problems: problem areas in cities ( Slumbildung ), underdeveloped agricultural regions, areas with high unemployment
  • Objective 3: adaptation and modernization of education, training and employment system.

70 % of the money went to Objective 1 regions, the entire production was 195 billion euros. The Objective 1 regions included, among other parts of eastern Germany and Spain as well as all post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe ( with the exception of the regions of Prague, Bratislava and Budapest). Recipients were mostly the NUTS 2 regions, but also entrepreneurs and cities were among the addressees. For reception of money development plans of the respective authorities had to be a " Community Support Framework " between the EU and the recipients was elaborated.

With the EU enlargement in 2004 began distribution Battles: Most regions of the newly added Central and Eastern European countries would have Objective 1 regions. At the same time, some regions in the EU -15 would no longer meets the criteria through the drop in the average GDP would therefore dropped out of the promotion out. This explains the aversion, for example, Spain against the eastward expansion, and Germany tried to secure his money from the structural funds at least until 2013. The CEC received under the pre -accession strategy for the EU to structural funding, eg within the framework of the PHARE program (focus on institution building ) until 2006, since 1 January 2007 under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

2007-2013 programming period

  • Regions with promotion after "Convergence"
  • Regions with phasing-out promotion (decreasing transition assistance )
  • Regions with phasing-in promotion (increasing transition assistance )
  • Regions with funding by the "Regional competitiveness and employment"

The EU funds were realigned for the 2007-2013 funding period. The relevant regulations adopted European Council and Parliament on 11 July 2006 and given the new objective as:

  • Convergence Objective
  • Regional Competitiveness and Employment and
  • Territorial Cooperation objective.

The previous numbering of the objectives fell off it.

The budget was set at 308.041 billion euros.

"Convergence"

This goal aims at the economic acceleration of those European countries and regions that are least developed. It is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF ), the European Social Fund ( ESF) and the Cohesion Fund. The priorities of this goal are human resources, innovation, knowledge economy, the environment and administrative efficiency. A budget of 251.163 billion euros will be allocated to implement this first objective. The funding for the ERDF and the ESF refer to the regions with a GDP per capita below 75% of the European average.

The funding for the Cohesion Fund concerning such States whose GDP per capita is lower than that of 90 % of the European average. The peripheral regions receive special funding from the ERDF.

"Regional competitiveness and employment"

This goal is addressed to all regions of the European Union that are not affected by the Convergence objective. The aim is to enhance regional competitiveness, employment and attractiveness of regions. Innovation, promoting entrepreneurial spirit and environmental protection are key issues that objective. The ERDF and the ESF fund this goal with 49.13 billion euros.

"European territorial cooperation "

This objective corresponds to the INTERREG initiative of the previous Programmationsperioden. With 7.75 billion euros financed by the ERDF aims of this mission is to promote cooperation between European regions, the development of joint solutions in the cities, in the rural and coastal areas as well as the economic development and environmental management. This target consists of three components:

  • Cross-border cooperation
  • Transnational cooperation
  • Interregional cooperation

Program creation

The preparation of the Structural Funds programs was carried out in three stages:

Firstly, the Council of the European Union adopted on a proposal from the Commission and after obtaining the assent of the European Parliament on October 6, 2006 strategic guidelines on cohesion.

Then put each Member State to a National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF ), which ensures the coherence between the Fund and the strategic guidelines of the Community, and contains a list of operational programs. The NSRF for Germany was prepared jointly by federal and state governments and adopted on 19 March 2007.

In the third stage the operational programs are created. In Germany, the 16 federal states have each set up an operational program for the ERDF and the ESF ( except Lower Saxony: Since the Lüneburg area covered by the Convergence objective, the rest of the country but under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment, Niedersachsen has two ERDF and two ESF programs installed ). There were an ERDF program of the Federal Transport Investments and the transnational operational programs for the third goal for the European Territorial Cooperation ( 'Interreg' ). In the operational programs, the priorities are described for the use of the funds and quantified in a financial plan. By the end of 2007, all 37 operational programs for Germany and its states were approved retroactively as of 1 January 2007 by the European Commission.

Ceased is in the interest of simplification over the funding period 2000-2006 the preparation of the supplementary documents to the programs in which there was a detailed financial plan on the level of action lines.

Funding period 2014-2020

Very soon after the start of the 2007-2013 programming period, the European Commission launched on 30 May 2007 with the submission of the fourth report on economic and social cohesion, a discussion on the future of European cohesion policy after 2013. The first debate was held on 27-28. September 2007 as part of the 4th Cohesion Forum in Brussels, which was attended by many representatives of national, regional and local authorities and by various associations and other non- Regierungsorgansationen. By the end of January 2008, the Member States and the public also had the opportunity to submit written comments and discussion posts. The European Commission will now substantiate its proposals for reform on this basis.

On 6 October 2011, the EU Commission presented its proposals for regional policy from 2014 to the public. Regional funding and allocation of funds from the Social Fund are in accordance with the request of the Commission in the future based less on content priorities but more specific targets.

Miscellaneous

In October 2010, resulted in a Euro -barometer survey found that about two -thirds of the people in Europe are unaware of EU-funded projects in their region. 65 percent of Europeans are not aware that the EU promotes local and regional development where they lived - even though the EU currently spends one third of their budget to the goal of promoting growth and prosperity in the 28 Member States and their regions. This public awareness on EU-funded projects from country to country is pronounced very differently. In countries that are poorer and therefore more likely to get more money from the structural funds, regional promotion of a majority of the respondents is known. In eight countries, including Germany, less than 25 percent of the participants were aware of a project in their area of support instruments. In the UK, only 13 percent of respondents had heard of local projects with EU support.

Gross domestic product Eurobarometer Common Fisheries Policy
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