Brussels, 14/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 May, the European Commission adopted a communication welcoming the result of negotiations on the new generation of sectoral and regional programmes relating to euro cohesion policy - €347 billion over the period 2007-2013. The Commission welcomes real changes in this policy, which will allow European regions to answer the challenges of globalisation, climate change, migration and population ageing.
The value added of the negotiation process goes well beyond the financial resources. The discussions with member states, regions, partners and local actors demonstrated that the policy had acted as a catalyst for change, the Commission writes.
It adds that, as a result of the negotiation process, the quality of the programmes has improved substantially, and their content has become more closely aligned with major Community priorities.
One key negotiation result is the substantial increase, compared to the past, in investments supporting the growth and jobs agenda, especially in the areas of innovation, research, skills and human capital. In the less-developed regions in the EU27, under the convergence objective, 65% of the funds are intended for Lisbon related expenditure, while the more-developed regions, under the regional competitiveness and employment objective, plan to invest 82% of the funds in Lisbon-related priorities. The Lisbon-related allocation in the 12 new EU member states is, on average, 59% (for example, Poland 64%, Slovakia 59% and Romania 52%). (L.C.)