Brussels, 09/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 July, the European Commission will adopt legislation regarding Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013, and is planning to maintain its regional policy objectives over that period. All the proposals are included in a package of Structural Funds regulations prepared by the departments of Commissioners Jacques Barrot and Davros Dimas (see EUROPE of 9 July, p.7).
In the draft regulation on general measures regarding FEDER, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund, the Commission notes that the financial resources earmarked for the Cohesion Policy reflect the enlarged EU's desire to promote growth and job creation in the most disadvantaged regions. For 2007-2013, the Commission is planning to provide EUR 336.3 billion (the equivalent of ERU 373.9 billion before the transfers to single instruments for rural development and fisheries) to support the three priorities of the new Cohesion Policy (convergence, regional competitiveness and employment and territorial cooperation).
According to the regulation, the division of resources among the three priorities will be as follows: 1) 78.54% for convergence (disadvantaged regions, Cohesion Funds and statistical effect regions), focussing on aid for the ten new Member States plus Bulgaria and Romania (expected in 2007). These funds concern not only Objective 1 regions (where GDP per head of population is below 75% of the EU average) but also regions no longer eligible in theory because of the statistical impact of EU enlargement. Such regions (eighteen regions of the EU15) will benefit from a gradually diminishing degree of special aid under the convergence objective to help them gradually adapt to no longer receiving aid; 2) 17.22% for regional competitiveness and employment, covering current aid for regions in industrial decline (Objective 2) and aid for training and employment. Some regions will benefit from a temporary phasing in, but leaving these regions aside, the Commission notes that the funds will be divided 50-50 among regional programmes funded from FEDER and national programmes funded by the ESF; 3) 3.94% for European territorial cooperation.
For dividing financial resources among the Member States, the Commission suggests applying the system based on the objectives decided at the 1999 Berlin Summit (which established the financial framework to enable the EU to expand to ten new states in 2004) to the convergence objective, taking into account the need to be fair to regions hit by the statistical impact of enlargement. The Commission adds that resources for regional competitiveness and employment will be distributed among Member States by the Commission in line with EU economic, social and territorial criteria.