Inforegio news. N° 167, April 2008.
Date: 2001-03-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy
Subjects: information, regional policy, serial publication

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Newsletter
April 2008
N° 167

inforegio

news

EN

Regional Policy is good for us, say EU citizens
A recent Eurobarometer survey shows that the vast majority of Europeans are convinced of the 
benefi ts of EU Regional Policy – which accounts for more than one third of the EU budget – for their 
town, city or region. 

The survey, which was carried out last January in the 
27 Member States, is part of the public consultation 
launched by Commissioner Hübner last September 
on the future of EU Regional Policy. According to the 
Commissioner, “This survey confi rms Europeans' confi dence 
in Cohesion Policy. Not only do they feel we must continue 
to support the poorest regions in Europe so as to help 
them catch up, they also believe that we must continue 
to help all the regions of Europe. They want EU action to 
be ever more ambitious and capable of meeting the new 
challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, 
demographic challenges and the eff ects of globalisation. 
We must therefore equip ourselves with the means to meet 
this expectation.”

Of those who are aware of the Cohesion Policy, the vast 
majority (70 %) think that it is benefi cial. Only one person 
in fi ve (mainly people from France, the Netherlands, 
Bulgaria and Slovenia) holds the view that Regional 
Policy did not benefi t their region. By contrast, Lithuania 
and Ireland are examples of countries whose people 
almost unanimously recognise the positive impact of 
EU support.

Respondents almost unanimously approved of the 
focus of European Regional Policy on the poorest 
regions, helping them to catch up with the rest of the 
EU (85 %). However, a majority of respondents (58 %) 
also considered that support in the framework of EU 
Regional Policy should not focus exclusively on those 
regions, but that all regions should benefi t.

The future of Cohesion Policy

The Slovenian Presidency of the EU 
is organising a conference in Mari-
bor on 7-8 April 2008 on the future 
of Cohesion Policy. The European 
Commission will present a fi rst syn-
thesis of contributions received in 
the  context  of  the  public  debate 
on this issue, which was launched 
in September 2007. Further details 
will be provided in future editions 
of Inforegio News1.

http://www.svlr.gov.si/en/eu_
presidency/events/conference_on_
the_future_of_cohesion_policy/

Europe in the context of 
globalisation

The  European  Spatial  Planning 
 Observatory Network (ESPON) has 
published a report entitled 'Europe 
in the World'. The report presents 
statistical and cartographic informa-
tion on key issues such as how global 
production and international trade 
fl ows aff ect Europe, and the gate-
way cities that connect  Europe to 
the global market.

http://www.espon.eu/mmp/
online/website/content/
publications/98/1681/index_EN.html

Cross-border cooperation 
between Belgium and the 
Netherlands

A  new  cross-border  cooperation 
programme  entitled  'Grensregio 
Vlaanderen-Nederland'  (Border 
 region Flanders-Netherlands) has 
been launched for the period 2007-13. 
The programme has a total budget 
of €190 million, including an ERDF 
contribution of €95 million. 

http://www.europawerkt.eu/

EU fund management 

A well known and popular policy

The '3rd International Annual Sym-
posium EU Funds 2008: ERDF – ESF 
–  EAFRD  –  EFF',  organised  by  the 
Europäische Akademie, took place 
in Berlin on 17-19 March. The event 
attracted representatives of public 
authorities dealing with the man-
agement, evaluation and auditing of 
EU funds in the Member States and 
 focused on the fi rst experiences of 
the programming period 2007-13.

http://www.europaeische-akademie.
net/en.html

(1) This article was written before the conference took place. 

Half of the respondents said that they are aware of 
Cohesion Policy support provided to their region, town 
or city. Such awareness is more widespread in the 12 
new Member States (60 %) than in the older Member 
States (47 %). Public awareness is highest in Slovenia 
(66 %), Lithuania (65 %), Austria (64 %) and Ireland (64 %), 
while it is lowest in Bulgaria (35 %), Cyprus (35 %) and the 
Netherlands (30 %). Germany (46 %), France (45 %) and the 
United Kingdom (38 %) are below the EU average.

The  sectors  which  Europeans  wish  to  be  priority 
 recipients of EU investment are education, health, 
social welfare infrastructure, environmental protection 
and risk prevention. They also think that this support 
should focus on vocational training and assistance to 
small businesses. A very large majority of Europeans 
hope that, in future, the scope of Regional Policy will 
be widened to address key challenges such as climate 
change (85 %), globalisation (54 %) and demographic 
challenges (52 %). 

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Europeans appreciate the management of EU Structural Funds 

Most respondents appreciated the fact that the principle of subsidiarity 
was applied in assigning EU  Regional Policy strategies and projects. Eight 
out of ten respondents appreciated the fact that EU Regional Policy gives 
EU Member States and regions the right to decide their own strategies 
and projects.

Similarly, Europeans also support the principle of “partnership”, which allows 
civil society to be involved in managing EU Funds. 82 % of respondents 
have a positive view of the fact that business organisations, trade unions 
and organisations working for equal opportunities or the environment are 
involved in selecting projects on the ground. In other words, they support 
the principle of “multi-level” governance, one of the key principles of EU 
Cohesion Policy.

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/fl ash_arch_en.htm

Member States’ spending to come under scrutiny
The Commission has adopted a Structural Funds Action Plan to address the Court of Auditors' recommendations on the control and 
monitoring of structural actions in Member States.

The Plan focuses on improving control at a primary, management level 
in Member States. To prevent gaps and errors at this stage, training 
and guidance for managing authorities will be key, in order to ensure 
Structural Funds are properly handled.

Twenty-fi ve Member States have either already sent in summaries, or 
are about to, of their available audits and declarations for 2007 – the 
ones who have not fulfi lled their legal obligation to provide the informa-
tion, will be sent a letter warning them they are in danger of facing an 
infringement procedure if they delay longer. 

While  examination  and  supervision  are  to  play  a  key  role  in  the 
 Commission’s bid to improve its supervisory role, simplifi cation of the 
control and audit systems is underway for 2007-13. This will help identify 
any weaknesses and deal with them right from the start.

‘This Action Plan is a practical response to the Auditors’ recommendations’, 
said Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner. ‘The Plan sets out 

specifi c actions to be carried out to strict deadlines and I am confi dent this 
pragmatic approach will achieve the results we all seek.’

Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Aff airs and Equal 
Opportunities added: ‘The Commission will make sure the taxpayers’ money 
is used correctly. The Plan will improve ex-post controls, apply faster suspension 
mechanisms and launch fi nancial correction procedures when necessary.’

Meanwhile,  2000-06  programmes  are  being  closed  and  the  more 
 eff ective, ex-post controls should remedy any remaining weaknesses 
in the system.

In an extra measure, six Member States have signed up to a ‘Contract 
of Confi dence’, meaning that signatories Austria, Denmark, Estonia, 
Portugal, Slovenia and the U.K. (Wales) are guaranteeing the reliability 
of their national audit bodies. 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0097: 
FIN:EN:PDF

'Lisbonising' Europe’s regions
Enhancing the role of Europe’s regions in the Lisbon strategy was the theme of the 'Territorial Dialogue' conference, which took place 
in Brdo pri Kranju (near Ljubljana) in Slovenia on 4 March 2008.

This high-level event, co-organised by the EU Committee of the Regions and the 
Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, was convened to promote greater 
involvement of EU regions' in the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs. 

'Territorial Dialogue 2008' was the third in a series of annual conferences on 
this theme. The event coincided with the run-up to the Spring European 
Council and the start of the new Lisbon governance cycle of 2008-10. Local 
and regional political leaders used the opportunity to highlight some of the 
challenges they are facing in implementing the revised Lisbon Strategy for 
growth and jobs.

Commissioner Hübner spoke about the future of Cohesion Policy, a subject 
on which the Commission launched a public consultation last September. She 
welcomed the active role of the regions in this debate, as demonstrated in 
the report from the EU Committee of the Regions entitled "European Regions 
and Cities - Partners for the Jobs and Growth Strategy". “Member States have 
grasped the link between European Cohesion Policy and the Growth and Jobs 
Agenda. Now we need to deliver", the Commissioner concluded.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/377&fo
rmat=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

http://lisbon.cor.europa.eu/

"Telling the story - Communicating Cohesion Policy together"
The proceedings of the conference organised by the European Commission last November on how to inform the 
public on Cohesion Policy are now available on the Inforegio website.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/country/commu/conferences/november07/sources_en.cfm?nmenu=5

European Commission
Directorate-General for Regional Policy

Text finalised on 26 March 2008

Editor: Raphaël Goulet, European Commission, Regional Policy DG, Unit B1, Fax: +32 2 29-66003. The texts of this publication do not bind the Commission.
Electronic address of the Regional Policy DG on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
Commissioner Danuta Hübner: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/hubner/index_en.htm
Orders for publications: regio-info@ec.europa.eu — This newsletter is published in 22 offi  cial languages of the European Union. 
Printed on recycled paper. 
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the European Commission.

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