WRITTEN QUESTION P-0951/99

by Michael McGowan (PSE) to the Commission

(7 April 1999)

Subject: Structural Funds eligibility

Considering the possibility that in certain Member States pressures may exist that could encourage the submission of areas proposed for eligibility under the urban "Strand" of the new Objective 2 of Structural Funds where such areas are discontinuous and very small and noting that such an approach would be:

- very inefficient in the use of administrative resources on the part of the EU and national governments,

- incapable of meeting the economic objectives of the ERDF under Objective 2 which require sufficiently large areas to be capable of supporting an economic regeneration programme with, for example, small factory units, training bases and other infrastructure,

- failing to meet the social inclusion objectives of Agenda 2000 by not focusing on the worst concentrations of deprivation in the major inner city areas,

Will the Commissioner please state how the EU will ensure that, in preparing lists of Objective 2 areas under the urban Strand, the Member States will put forward areas which are:

- urban in character, i.e. more than 500 residents per sq kilometre,

- "substantial" (as specified in the draft Structural Fund regulation and interpreted as having a population of more than 100 000),

- comprised of groups of contiguous wards or equivalent NUTS V areas.

Will advice to this effect be added to the programming guidance recently approved?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(5 May 1999)

During the period 2000-06, Objective 2 of the Structural Funds can cover industrial, rural, urban and fisheries-dependant areas which are facing problems in connection with economic and social restructuring.

As at present under Objectives 2 and 5(b), a large number of urban centres will be included in the rural and industrial areas eligible under the new Objective 2.

The Commission therefore considers that the specifically urban component of the new Objective 2 should concern primarily problem areas in towns and cities. As provided for in the proposal for a Regulation laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds(1), these must be densely populated areas meeting at least one of the criteria in Article 4(7). For instance, in its workforce surveys the Commission considers an area to be densely populated if it has more than 50 000 inhabitants and is made up of contiguous local units (NUTS V), each with more than 500 inhabitants per square kilometre. Such an area may include units with a lower population density provided they are entirely contained within it.

Each urban area selected much be sufficiently large to make it possible to implement an effective strategy aimed at renovating the urban fabric, to provide training and to encourage the start-up or development of businesses. In this context, the figure of 100 000 inhabitants can be taken as a point of reference but does not constitute a rigid threshold.

The guidelines set out in Article 9 of the proposal for a Regulation laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds are intended to assist the national and regional authorities in preparing their programming strategies and to make clear the Community priorities. They are for guidance only and concern the nature of assistance and not the eligibility of areas.

(1) OJ C 176, 9.6.1998.