Growing opportunities

“Cohesion policy in the EU has shown its capacity to adjust to change through the financing of investments in infrastructures, human resources and the modernization and diversification of regional economies”, says DANUTA HÜBNER , European Commissioner for Regional Policy, in presenting the fourth Report on economic and social cohesion. The report evaluates the results achieved so far and presents guidelines for future action in the seven-year period down to 2013. But the policy looks even beyond that date: “The objective of these actions – she explains – consists in creating opportunities for all citizens of the EU, reducing the disparities between the regions and concentrating the resources in investments in favour of growth”. TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN FORUM. The Commission’s document, which will be the focus of discussion at the fourth European Forum on cohesion due to be held in Brussels on 27-28 September, comprises for the first time a detailed analysis of the territorial situation of the Union enlarged to 27 member states and 268 regions. It then poses a number of questions with the aim of stimulating “a debate on the future of this sector of EU policy”, faced by new challenges: “demographic decline, the intensifications of economic pressures by competitors on a global scale, the rising cost of energy, climate change and social polarization”. To understand the strategic importance of the issue, it’s enough to consider that for the period 2007-2013 cohesion policy is endowed with a budget of 347.4 billion euros, in other words a third of the entire budget of the EU. In the first months of this year the Executive has evaluated the operational programmes sent in by member states: over 400 actions on the territory, financed thanks to the European Fund of Regional Development (EFRD) and the European Social Fund (ESF). These are investments in large part destined to reinforce infrastructures or realize the Lisbon Agenda (research, development, innovation, formation of human capital). REDUCING EXCLUSION AND POVERTY. The Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, VLADIMIR ŠPIDLA , who collaborates closely with his Polish colleague in this sphere, says: “Cohesion policy has helped to reduce social exclusion and poverty and to improve the public administration, especially at the local level”. In this sense it “has succeeded in promoting the growth of gross domestic product and reducing existing disparities” between EU frontiers. The Commissioner adds: “The ESF will invest over 10 billion euros per year in human resources over the next seven years, helping people to improve their own professional skills and employment prospects”. For the Commission it’s a question of looking to the future and being able to tackle the new developments “deriving from technological progress and globalization”. THE RESULTS ACHIEVED. Some real achievements emerge from the Report on cohesion policy. “Disparities in income and employment throughout the European Union – says the Report – have been reduced over the last decade”. On the other hand “major deficits remain to be recuperated among the less well-to-do and the rest of the population, and a long-term effort will be needed to eliminate them”. EU cohesion programmes “have also helped to promote regional convergences and employment”. Among the examples cited, the Report points out that in the period 2000-2006 these investments and actions have favoured a growth of GDP of 2.8% in Greece and 2.0% in Portugal, while “preliminary estimates suggest that in the period 2007-2013 they will help to increase GDP in Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic by approximately 8,5%, in Poland by 5.5% and in Greece by 3.5%”. OPEN QUESTIONS. The Report then poses some questions with the aim of encouraging joint reflection among the 27. How far – the Report asks – is cohesion policy able to tackle the new challenges posed to the regions in the years ahead? What role does this policy play in responding to demographic changes? How can cohesion policy favour to the best a harmonious, balanced and sustainable development and at the same time take into account the diversity of the regions of the Union (disadvantaged regions, islands and rural and coastal zones, cities and industrial regions in decline)? And what are the consequences of the challenges pointed out by the Report on the key elements of social cohesion, such as inclusion, integration and the creation of equal opportunities? How can roles be distributed to the best between Community, national powers and regional authorities in the sphere of a system of multi-level governance? But the Report also looks beyond the frontiers of the EU: it poses the question what are the new opportunities for regional cooperation both inside and outside the European Union.