Working for the regions. Europe on the Move, 1991

(1)

(2)

One of fhe obiecfives, lhe conversion of breos of-fected by industriol dec/ine where unemploymenl is very t' I

nton-'A more effective regiono/ deve/opmenl ossisfonce is o foo/ of

bofh Comm unity ond nofiono/ policy'.

Bruce Millon, Member of the

Euro-peon Commission

-'

Regio nol policy

I

he

richest

region

in

the

Europeon

Community

is

six times richer

thon

the

poorest

region. When

Spoin

ond

Porlugol

_ioined

the Community

in

1986,

the number of

people

living

in

regions

where the

per

copito

income

is

less

thon

75o/o

of the

Community

overoge doubled.

Despite

moior effods

by

the

Member

Stotes

ond the

Community,

the

gulfs

dividing the

regions hove not

yet

been sotisfoctorily

bridged.

The creotion

of

o

single

morket

encompossing

the

l2

Member

Stotes

hos mognified

the

chollenge.

lt

would

be

quite

unocceptoble

to

countenonce

the

existence,

side

by side

in

o

single morket,

of

regions

with

such

un-equol

resources.

In

o

Europe

with

no

internol

fron-tiers, men

ond

money

will

settle

where

the

environ-ment

is

most

fovouroble.

lt

is

o

roce

which

the

strongest regions

will

be

best

equipped to

win.

The

Community

hos

therefore

odopted

o

befier

en-dowed policy

to

strengthen

economic

ond

sociol

cohesion

ond

reduce regionol

disporities.

(3)

WHY?

With

the odoption of the Single Act in

1986,

Community

policy

in

generol

ond

structurol

policy

in

porticulor underwent o consideroble chonge.

The

Single

Act

ploces speciol

em-phosis on the completion of the single morket

with no

internol frorrtiens by

1992,

ond its

necessory corollory which is the

streng{M*Sffif

economic ond sociol

coheffiffir

the

Com-munity.

".tiifrFffi{

The

Eurooeon structurol Funds ore omong the Community's chief tools for

the

strengthening

of

economic ond

sociol cohesion.

The

Single

Act, therefore, provided

for

the

reform of these Funds, with o view to increosing their effectiveness.

The structurol Funds ore: ihe Europeon Regionol Development Fund (ERDF),

the

Europeon Sociol Fund (ESF) ono

the

Europeon Agriculturol Guidonce

ond

Guorontee Fund (EAGGF). The reform of the siruciurol Funds is boseo on ihree moin principles' the doubling

of

the

ovoiloble funds,

i. e.

ECU

l4

billion

per yeor

beiween

l9BZ

ono

1993,

insteod

of

ECU

Z

billion

os

previously;

the

concentrotion

of

ossistonce in the most disodvontoged regions; priority to be given to the five following objectives,

Obiecfive

l:

regions whose

devel-opmenf is

logging

behind, where the per copito GDP is less thon 7 50/o ol the

Comnrunity overoge. These regions,

whlch

receive double

the

omount of

Community

oid ond

BOo/o

of

the resources of the ERDF, include Greece,

lrelond, Corsico

ond the

French

overseos deportments.

Obiective

2:

oreos offected

by

ln-dusiriol

conversion,

where both

the percentoge shore of industriol octivity ond the overoge rote of unemployment

exceed

the

Community

overoge.

In

(4)

(5)

Without

neglecting one-off develop-ment proiects,

the

Community gives preference

to

multi-onnuol progrom-mes

of

o

certoin scole. In this woy, Community ossistonce is plonned ond torgeted overo period of severolyeors. Alonoside

its

colloborotion

with

the

Memler

Stotes, the Commission moy undertoke initiotives of its own to sup-olement the concerted oction with the Member Stotes in those fields ond

sec-tors which it considers hove priority or ore essentiol to the completion of the single morket ond which, in porticulor,

ennonce

economic

ond

sociol cohesion,

(i) Community initiotives ore intended

to

occompony

other

Europeon policies,

to

oct os

o

cotolyst for their opplicotion in

the

regions

or

to

con-tribute to the solution of problems com-mon to different cotegories of regions. Between

l9B9

ond

1993 some ECL,,

5.5

billion (from

oll

Funds) ore

to

be soent on vorious initiotives: the conver-sion of former coolmining, steelmoking or shipbuilding regions, environmento protection ond regionol development,

regionol

cooperotion

between reseorch ond production octivities, the supply

of

energy

to

under-equippeo regions, promotion of telecommunico-iions,

oid

for

peripherol regions,

co-operotion between froniier

regions, preporotion for the single morket ond strengthening of the sociol dimension. (ii) Pilot proiects the purpose of which

is

to

explore new

directions. The

ovoiloble funds (obout ECU

300 million)

ore not

sufficient

for

o

fully-fledged policy, but could provide the

bosis for one, or of leost o useful exom-ole. The fields concerned

ore

urbon renewol, exchonge of experience in

in-terregionol cooperotion

ond

en-courooement

for the

creotion

of tro nsf 16ntie r networrs.

PARTNERSH

IB

SUBSIDIARITY

AND

ADDITIONALITY

The foct

thot

regionol

policy

must be directed from Community level does not meon thot the Commission is besl ploced

to

monoge regionol develop-ment. litherefore emphosizes three key

concepts: portnershig

subsidiority ond odditionolity.

(i) Portnership implies the porticipotion of

oll

oorties involved

of

reoionol ono

o o ,9 o

(6)

notionol level ot the different stoges of

the

process (preporotion

ond

im-plementotion of meosures). To this end the Commission hos set up monitoring committees, mode up of notionol ond regionol officiols, to monitor the execu-tion of proiects ond ossess their impoci. (ii) Subsidiority

is

the word

used to express the

foct thot

responsibility is

ploced os close os possible to the leve

of

concrete reolity, where oction con best be toilored

to

suit the situotion.

The

conception

ond

on-the-sPot monogement

of

the progrommes de-cided on in Brussels ore the

responsi-bility

of

the

regionol

or

notiono outhorities.

(iii) According to the principle of

oddi-tionolity,

Community ossistonce

l-s

given

to

supplement the finonciol

ef-forts

of

the

regions

ond

Member Stotes, without octuolly replocing it.

SOLIDARITY

IS

INDISPENSABLE

The Community os o whole will be the

stronger

the

more

the

ProsPerous regions succeed in demonstroting their

solidoritv

with

the

more

disodvon-loqeo ones.

Th"e spirit

of

solidority

which

inspires Community policy con olso be seen in the meihods used, porticulorly in the promotion

of

the

portnership whlch brings, together

oll the

porties con-cerned.

This

solidority

con

be

seen

in

the regions ihemselves,

where

the

pro-grommes

ond

proiects

which

hove been

_iointly

discussed

ond

odopied ore pui into proctice.

The Community set

up the

Euro-peon Regionol' Development Fund (ERDFI

in

1975. During the first

l4

yeors of its existence, the ERDF pro-vided the leost developed regions

with

subsidies

totolling ECU

24 billion. lt hos been responsible for

the

creotion

ond

continuotion of

olmost

o

million

_{iobs ond}

con-tributed

to the

reolization

of

rnore thon 40

000

proiects.

'Moking o success of fhe Sing/e Acl requires

not only fhe comp/efion of the interno/ morkel

but o/so the imp/emen-totion of common

po/icies which will give eoch region in the

Com-munitf its chonce'.

Jocques De/ors, Presidenf of fhe Com-mission

(7)

EN

This booklet is port of the Europeon File series ond oppeors in oll the officiol Community longuoges

_-

Donish, Dutch, English, French, Germon, Greek, ltolion, Portuguese ond

Sponish.

Commission of the Europeon Communities

Directoroie-Generol for Audiovisuol, Informotion, Communicotion ond Culture Editor, Publicotions Unit, 200 rue de lo Loi, B-1049 Brussels

Monuscript completed in Jonuory 1991

Cover photo, Fulvio Roiter

_-

Drowings: Morio Romos

@ ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels

.

Luxembourg 1991

Reproduction is outhorized, except for com"merciol purposes, provided the source is ocknowledoed.

Printed in Germony

"

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