Brussels, 14/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 12 June the European Commission adopted its 4th progress report on cohesion, which provides an insight into economic and social disparities in the EU. The report also takes into account the progress achieved over recent years for fighting against these inequalities and reveals the need for more effort, particularly with regard to reducing the sharp regional disparities persisting in the area of modern infrastructure and the capacity to innovate.
In the context of the considerable differences revealed in modern infrastructure, the report notes that regions should attempt to rectify these shortfalls if they want to catch up. The report provides the following examples: in 47 out of 254 regions, research and development (R&D) is practically non-existent with spending on R&D barely reaching 0.5% of GDP, when the EU's objective in this regard is 3%; in regions where GDP is less than 75% of the EU average, less than 15% of households have broad band internet access, as opposed to around 30% of households in other regions.
The progress report also shows that 2005 was a record year for cohesion policy in terms of resources invested, with a total of EUR 38.3 billion committed under the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, and the pre-accession fund designated for candidate countries. It also shows that, in terms of execution, the new Member States' experience since 2004 has been similar to that of the old Member States in the start-up phase of the 2000-2006 programming period.
In turning to the future, the Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner explained that at EU level, the legal regulations underpinning cohesion policy are expected to be finalised in July following a second reading in the European Parliament. This will pave the way for the adoption of the Community Strategic Guidelines for cohesion policy, and it is expected that regional financial allocations for 2007-2013 will be announced before the summer break. The fourth progress report on cohesion is available at: (http: //ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/reports/interim4_en.htm).