European Union regional policy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Regions with funding according to the "convergence" objective
  • Regions with phasing-out funding (decreasing transitional aid)
  • Regions with phasing-in funding (increasing transitional aid)
  • Regions with funding according to the objective "Regional competitiveness and employment"

    • The regional policy of the European Union pursues the goal of strengthening economic and social cohesion within the European Union . This is to be done by reducing the structural gap between the individual regions and by promoting balanced spatial development. Regional policy is the second largest item in the EU budget for the 2007-2013 multiannual financial framework .

    Financial instruments of European regional policy

    Regional policy is financed in particular from funds set up for this purpose, from which EU countries and regions receive aid based on the objectives of the respective funding periods. In the 2007-2013 funding period, every European region is eligible for funding for the first time, albeit not from every fund. The following funds (often referred to as Entire EU Structural Funds ) are available for EU regional policy:

    The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy coordinates EU structural policy and funds in Germany. It is in charge of the European Regional Development Fund - ERDF.

    See also: EU funding programs

    history

    The production started in the 1960s. The gradual emergence of an agricultural market (from 1957) made it necessary to set up a European Agricultural Orientation and Guarantee Fund , whose “Orientation” department also financed regional policy measures. The accession of Great Britain and Ireland in 1973 with their respective structurally weak regions made the formulation of a real structural policy seem imperative.

    Funding period 2014–2020

    Immediately after the start of the 2007-2013 funding period, the European Commission initiated the discussion on the future of European cohesion policy after 2013 with the presentation of the fourth report on economic and social cohesion. After public hearings with all stakeholders and written statements, the European Commission specified its reform proposals, which were finally implemented in intensive negotiations with the member states and the European Parliament in the rules for the new funding period 2014–2020. In future, European structural and cohesion policy will be based primarily on the results and thematically focus on the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy, above all on growth and employment.

    With the partnership agreement, these goals are implemented at national level. This is a national document in which the overall strategy for Germany for the use of the European Structure and Investment Funds (ESIF) is described. In addition to the Structural Funds ERDF and ESF and the Cohesion Fund, the agricultural funds EAFRD and EMFF are also included. The partnership agreement, which is to be drawn up by each MS and negotiated with the EU Commission, determines the strategic direction of the operational programs, i.e. the funding programs, and defines the objectives with which the European Structural and Investment Funds can achieve the political objectives of the EU should contribute.

    Finally, the operational programs for the ERDF in Germany will be implemented exclusively in the federal states in the current funding period, and for the ESF additionally in a federal program.

    Funding period 2007–2013

    The EU funds were realigned for the 2007–2013 funding period. The relevant regulations were adopted by the European Council and Parliament on July 11, 2006 and defined the new objective as follows:

    • Goal convergence
    • Objective Regional competitiveness and employment and
    • Territorial cooperation objective .

    The previous numbering of the goals was no longer necessary.

    The budget was set at 308.041 billion euros.

    "Convergence" objective

    This goal seeks to accelerate the economy of those European states and regions that are least developed. It is financed 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 society, environment and administrative efficiency. A budget of 251.163 billion euros is allocated to implement this first goal. The funding opportunities for the ERDF and the ESF relate to the regions whose GDP per inhabitant is below 75% of the European average.

    The funding opportunities for the Cohesion Fund concern countries whose GDP per capita is lower than 90% of the European average. The peripheral regions receive special funding from the ERDF.

    "Regional competitiveness and employment" objective

    This goal is aimed at all regions of the European Union that are not affected by the goal of convergence. The aim is to strengthen regional competitiveness, employment and the attractiveness of the regions. Innovation, the promotion of entrepreneurship and environmental protection are key issues in this goal. The ERDF and the ESF are funding this goal with 49.13 billion euros.

    European Territorial Cooperation Objective

    This goal corresponds to the INTERREG initiative of the previous programming periods. Financed with 7.75 billion euros from the ERDF, this objective aims to promote cooperation between European regions, the development of common solutions in cities, rural and coastal areas, and economic development and environmental management. This goal has three components:

    • Cross-border cooperation
    • Transnational Cooperation
    • Interregional cooperation

    Program creation

    The structural fund programs were drawn up in three stages:

    First of all, on 6 October 2006, the Council of the European Union adopted strategic guidelines on cohesion for the Community on a proposal from the Commission and after the approval of the European Parliament.

    Each Member State then drew up a National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) to ensure coherence between the Fund and the Community's strategic guidelines and to list the operational programs. The NSRF for Germany was drawn up jointly by the federal and state governments and passed on March 19, 2007.

    In the third stage, the operational programs are drawn up. In Germany, the 16 federal states have each set up an operational program for the ERDF and the ESF (exception: Lower Saxony: Since the administrative district of Lüneburg falls under the objective of convergence, the remaining parts of the state fall under the objective of regional competitiveness and employment, Lower Saxony has two ERDF and two ESF programs established). In addition, there was a federal ERDF program for transport investments and the transnational operational programs for the third objective, European territorial cooperation (“Interreg”). In the operational programs, the priority axes for the use of the funds are described and quantified in a financing plan. By the end of 2007, all 37 operational programs for Germany and its countries had been approved by the EU Commission with retroactive effect from January 1, 2007.

    In the interests of simplification compared to the funding period 2000 to 2006, the preparation of supplementary documents for the programs in which detailed financial planning was carried out at the level of action lines has been omitted.

    Funding period 2000–2006

    For the funding period 2000–2006 the following key objectives were applied :

    • Objective 1 : Promotion of regions lagging behind (development lagging behind : GDP per inhabitant in the region max. 75% of the EU average) or sparsely populated regions (8 inhabitants / km²), in Germany all new federal states. For the period 2000–2006, a total of around 50 regions, comprising 22% of the European population, were classified as Objective 1 areas.
    • Objective 2 : Areas with structural problems: problem areas in cities ( slum formation ), structurally weak agricultural regions, areas with high unemployment
    • Objective 3  : Adaptation and modernization of the education, training and employment system.

    70% of the funds went to Objective 1 regions , with total funding amounting to 195 billion euros. The Objective 1 regions included parts of eastern Germany and Spain as well as all post-socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (with the exception of the Prague , Bratislava and Budapest regions ). The recipients were mostly the NUTS 2 regions, but businesses and cities were also among the addressees. In order to receive the money, the respective authorities had to have development plans; a “ Community funding concept ” had to be drawn up between the EU and the recipients.

    With the eastward expansion of the EU in 2004 , distribution struggles began: Most of the regions in the newly added Central and Eastern European countries would have been Objective 1 regions. At the same time, due to the lower average GDP, some regions in the EU-15 would no longer have met the criteria and would therefore have been excluded from funding. This explains the aversion to z. B. Spain against the eastward expansion, Germany also tried to secure its money from the structural funds at least until 2013. As part of the pre-accession strategy to the EU, the CEEC received structural funding, e.g. B. in the context of the PHARE program (focus: institution building) until 2006, since January 1, 2007 from the instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA).

    various

    In October 2010, a Eurobarometer survey found that around two-thirds of 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 live - although the EU currently spends a third of its budget on promoting growth and prosperity in the 28 member states and their regions. Public awareness of EU-funded projects differs from country to country. In countries that tend to be poorer and therefore receive more money from the structural funds, a majority of those surveyed are aware of regional funding. In eight countries, including Germany, less than 25 percent of the participants in a project in their area were aware of the funding instrument. In the UK, only 13 percent of respondents had heard of local EU-funded projects.

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ EU-Info: Funding programs for the regional policy of the EU eu-info.de
    2. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy - Structural Funds
    3. ↑ European Commission, Regional Policy
    4. ↑ Directorate-General for Regional Policy and Urban Development
    5. ↑ To the Eurobarometer survey on EU regional policy (PDF 5.2 MB)

    literature

    • Malek, Tanja, Nomos-Verl.-Ges., 2002: Policy making at the European level. Baden-Baden, ISBN 3-7890-8239-2 .
    • Holzwart, Holger, Duncker and Humblot, 2003: The legal framework for the administration and financing of the joint structural funds using the example of the ERDF, Berlin, ISBN 3-428-11080-3 .
    • Schöndorf-Haubold, Bettina, Beck, 2005: The Structural Funds of the European Community, Munich, ISBN 3-406-53566-6 .
    • Berg, Hartmut / Gehrmann, Björn 2004: EU regional policy and eastward expansion: high need for reform - low chances of reform. List Forum for Economic and Financial Policy 3: 40, 318–338.
    • Knodt, Michèle / Corcaci, Andreas 2012: European Integration. Instructions for theory-guided analysis, Konstanz / Munich. ISBN 978-3-8252-3361-7 .

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