Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Member States and Regions delivering the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs through EU cohesion policy, 2007-2013
Date: 2007-12-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU action, EU programme, development policy, economic and social cohesion, economic growth, employment policy, management, regional policy

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 11.12.2007 
COM(2007) 798 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Member States and Regions delivering the Lisbon strategy 
for growth and jobs through EU cohesion policy, 2007-2013 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Member States and Regions delivering the Lisbon strategy 
for growth and jobs through EU cohesion policy, 2007-2013 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This Communication sets out an initial overview of the results of the negotiations of the new 
generation of cohesion policy strategies and programmes for the period 2007-20131. As such, 
it forms part of the Lisbon package providing a detailed assessment of progress by policy area 
over  the  first  three  years  of  the  renewed  Lisbon  strategy  for  growth  and  jobs  of  2005.  In 
particular,  it  demonstrates  how  the  renewed  Lisbon  strategy  for  growth  and  jobs  has  been 
central to the new cohesion policy strategies and programmes. In addition, with a view to the 
2008  Spring  European  Council,  the  communication  also  reflects  on  the  potential  role  of 
cohesion policy programmes in taking the Lisbon Strategy forward during its next three-year 
cycle. 

2. 

COHESION POLICY AT THE HEART OF THE LISBON PROCESS  

With the reform proposed by the Commission in 2004 and endorsed by the Parliament and the 
Member  States  in  2006,  European  cohesion  policy  has  become  one  of  the  principal 
Community  policies  for  the  delivery  of  the  Union's  growth  and  jobs  agenda.  While 
maintaining the traditional principles2 of cohesion policy, the reform introduced a number of 
new  elements  in  recognition  of  the  need  to  focus  further  the  limited  resources  available  on 
promoting sustainable growth, competitiveness and employment, in particular: 

•  The policy has taken on a more explicit and transparent strategic focus which, for the first 
time,  operates  through  a  framework  known  as  the  Community  Strategic  Guidelines  on 
Cohesion  (CSGs)  adopted  by  the  Council  on  6 October 20063  and,  consistent  with  the 
Lisbon Integrated Guidelines4. This framework encourages Member States and regions to 
focus on those  areas  of  investment that help to deliver the National Reform Programmes 
(NRPs) while taking into account national and regional circumstances. It retains the same 
three priorities which are at the heart of the growth and jobs strategy, namely: 

–  making Europe and its regions more attractive places to invest and work; 

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2 

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4 

The data are based on the latest information encoded by the Member States on the new Programmes as 
of 27 November 2007. 
Chapter  IV  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1083/2006  of  11  July  2006  indicates  the  principles  of 
assistance  of  EU  cohesion  policy  (complementarity,  consistency,  coordination,  compliance, 
programming,  partnership,  territorial  level  of  implementation,  proportional  intervention,  shared 
management, additionality, equality between men and women and non-discrimination and sustainable 
development). 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/2007/osc/index_en.htm 
http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/pdf/integrated_guidelines_en.pdf. 

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–  encouraging  innovation,  entrepreneurship  and  the  growth  of  the  knowledge 

economy;  

–  creating more and better jobs. 

•  Member  States  are  asked  to  "earmark"  the  major  part  of  their  financial  allocations  for 
investments  with  the  potential  to  make  a  significant  contribution  to  realising  the  Lisbon 
objectives5.  These  interventions  have  been  identified  by  the  European  Council  in 
December 2005 as those which can deliver the greatest impact.   

While  the  earmarking  provisions  are  obligatory  for  the  EU-15,  the  Commission  has 
encouraged  all  Member  States  and  regions  to  focus  expenditures  on  interventions  which 
can help to underpin the structural reforms envisaged in the NRPs. Earmarking provides a 
benchmark which will help to monitor progress in an effort to ensure that the programmes 
remain focused on growth-enhancing and job-creating investments throughout 2007-2013. 

•  The links between the governance of the NRPs and the cohesion policy programmes have 
been reinforced  by new  reporting mechanisms introduced  under  both  the  Lisbon strategy 
and  cohesion  policy.  These  parallel  procedures  involve  regular  reporting  on  the 
contribution  of  cohesion  policy  in  delivering  growth  and  jobs  and  allow  cross-checking 
between the two policy fields in order to ensure consistency. This year, the Member States 
have  provided  for  the  first  time  a  section  on  the  role  of  cohesion  policy  in  their  Lisbon 
implementation reports which from now on will become a regular practice. 

•  Under cohesion policy, and on an annual basis, Member States are required to report on the 
earmarked investments supported by each operational programme. In addition, in 2009 and 
2012,  each  country  will  submit  a  strategic  report  containing  information  on  the  cohesion 
policy  contribution  to  the  Lisbon  agenda.  This  will  be  followed  in  2010  and  2013  by  a 
report  by  the  Commission  synthesising  the  national  contributions  and  reflecting  on  the 
opportunity, and the need, to adjust programmes to new challenges. 

•  The reform of cohesion policy has provided for greater decentralisation of responsibilities 
to  local  and  regional  partners.  By  pooling  local  and  regional  knowledge,  expertise  and 
resources  as  well  by  designing  integrated,  tailor-made  local  and  regional  strategies, 
cohesion policy can obtain a better focus on investments with the highest impact on growth 
and  jobs.  Decentralisation  in  turn  can  contribute  to  better  governance  at  all  levels  by 
improving responsibility and ownership on the ground of the Lisbon strategy.  

The  achievement  of  the  Lisbon  strategy  requires  continued  and  concerted  effort  and  the 
political commitment of the European institutions, Member States and regions. During 2007, 
Member  States  and  the  Commission  have  worked  closely  together  to  prepare  national  and 
regional strategies with a view to supporting the investment priorities identified in the NRPs 
and  the  country  specific  recommendations  adopted  by  the  Council6.  At  the  same  time,  as 
starting positions are different across European countries and regions, the delivery of Lisbon 
objectives needs to take into account individual contexts and challenges. These strategies are 
now in place for all 27 Member States but the real work is just beginning in order to ensure 
that through the programmes, there is a redoubled effort in favour of growth and jobs on the 

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6 

Article 9.3 and Annex IV of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 25). 
Conclusions of the 2007 Spring European Council. 

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ground.  It  will  be  important  that  this  effort  is  maintained  throughout  the  period  2007-2013 
and that resources are not shifted to lower priority areas.  

3. 

KEY FEATURES OF THE 2007-2013 COHESION POLICY PROGRAMMES  

3.1. 

Ensuring consistency with National Reform Programmes 

During  the  negotiations  with  most  Member  States,  there  was  a  high  degree  of  cooperation 
between, on the one hand, those responsible for coordinating the implementation of the NRPs 
and, on the other hand, those responsible for the preparation of the cohesion policy strategies 
(National Strategic Reference Frameworks - NSRF) and programmes. A considerable number 
of NSRFs provides a description of how this cooperation is organised, which is a new factor 
of high importance, since only in a few countries, the same Ministries are responsible for both 
policy  processes.  In  some  countries,  the  authorities  decided  that  effective  coordination 
requires administrative change. However, further efforts on co-ordination need to be made by 
Member States where this co-operation is not yet fully effective.  

3.2. 

Focusing on Lisbon priorities 

For the period 2007-2013, the total budget available for European cohesion policy amounts to 
EUR 347 billion euros (in current prices). This will be complemented by national public and 
private co-financing of some EUR 160 billion. In other words, with the leverage of national 
public and private resources, cohesion policy programmes will mobilise annually more than 
EUR 70 billion between 2007 and 2013. 

The strategies drawn up by the Member States for the 2007-2013 programming period suggest 
that a clear change of emphasis is underway, in favour of the key Lisbon priorities. Under the 
earmarking provisions, EU-15 Member States are required to invest the predominant part of 
their financial allocations7, namely 60% of Funds for their Convergence regions and 75% for 
their  Regional  competitiveness  and  employment  regions,  in  categories  that  are  central  to 
growth-enhancing  and  job-creating  investments.  For  the  EU-12  countries,  the  targets  are 
voluntary  but  all  new  Member  States  have  engaged  in  the  earmarking  exercise,  albeit  to 
varying degrees. 

Globally,  the  results  have  been  encouraging.  For  the  less  developed  regions  under  the 
Convergence  objective  in  EU-27,  which  together  account  for  over  80%  of  cohesion  policy 
resources,  65%  of  the  funds  are  to  be  invested  in  the  Lisbon-related  objectives.  This 
represents  an  increase  of  11  percentage  points  compared  to  the  previous  programming 
period.  Regions  with  programmes  falling  under  the  Regional  Competitiveness  and 
Employment  Objective,  which  account  for  16%  of  cohesion  policy  resources,  and  which 
traditionally  have  had  to  concentrate  their  more  limited  allocations  on  the  more  productive 
investments, plan to continue to invest a high proportion of the funds, 82% of the total for 
2007-2013, on Lisbon-related priorities. 

Naturally, circumstances dictate that there are differences between EU-15 and EU-12. For the 
EU15 Member States, for which earmarking is obligatory, the corresponding figures are, as is 
to be expected, somewhat higher at 74% for the Convergence Objective and 83% for the 

7 

Article 9.3 and Annex IV of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 25). 

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Regional  Competitiveness  and  Employment  Objective,  although  these  percentages  vary 
significantly both across Member States and between different regions.  

For the EU-12 Member States (and for which the earmarking provisions are not compulsory), 
the  figure  is  some  59%  under  the  Convergence  Objective,  which  is  also  the  same  figure 
attained in the very limited number of programmes in these Member States that are supported 
by the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective. 

Level of earmarking for Convergence Regions in EU-12* and EU-15
Comparaison 2000-2006 / 2007-2013
(in % of total funds)

59

49

74

55

2000-2006

2007-2013

100

75

50

25

0

EU-12 
(* 2000-2006 figures except for
BG & RO)

EU-15

As indicated, the figures for individual Member States tend to vary considerably. At the top 
end, Convergence regions in Portugal and Spain have earmarked investments averaging 80% 
of the total, while for Competitiveness regions the highest figure is for Denmark at 92% of the 
total8. In EU-12, the figures are somewhat more modest, but it is important to recall that in 
many  regions  there  remains  a  need  for  investment  in  a  range  of  sectors  fundamental  to 
economic progress. Encouragingly, however, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, with extensive 
investment  needs  in  basic  national,  regional  and  local  infrastructure,  have  decided  to 
concentrate a significant proportion of resources on Lisbon-related priorities. 

The resources allocated to promoting employability and human capital are generally assigned 
to Lisbon-related categories which results in high earmarking targets. Nevertheless, Member 
States,  with  the  support  of  the  Commission,  need  to  ensure  that  cohesion  policy  resources 
genuinely concentrate on actions generating the greatest impact in terms of growth and jobs. 
The new cross-reporting mechanisms coupled with the earmarking provisions should assist in 
this process. 

8 

These figures may still change subject to final version of operational programmes.  

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Level of earmarking by Member State 

2007-2013 
(in % of total funds) 

Convergence

Lisbon Non Lisbon

Regional Competitiveness and Employment

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

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3.3. 

Supporting the four priority actions of the 2006 and 2007 Spring Council  

The  2006  Spring  European  Council  identified  four  priority  areas  under  the  renewed  Lisbon 
Strategy  on  which  the  EU  and  Member  States  should  focus  their  efforts,  including  under 
cohesion  policy  programmes:  investing  more  in  knowledge  and  innovation;  unlocking 
business  potential,  particularly  of  SMEs;  improving  employability  through  flexicurity;  and 
better management of energy resources. The Commission has encouraged Member States to 
pay  particular  attention  to  taking  these  priorities  forward  and  to  integrating  them  into  their 
national and regional strategies. 

The new cohesion programmes put particular emphasis on investing more in knowledge and 
innovation. More than EUR 85 billion is allocated to investments in these areas9. More than 
half of this amount - EUR 49.5 billion - will be invested in improving innovative capacity in 
business,  by  supporting  technological  transfers  and  cooperation  networks,  as  well  as  R&D 
and eco-innovation (technologies and products). The remainder is shared between support for 
the  diffusion  and  use  of  ICTs  by  businesses  and  by  citizens  and  the  development  of  ICT 
technologies; support for business start-ups and self-employment; the development of skills; 
and  the  promotion  of  a  more  flexible  and  adaptable  workforce.  Cohesion  policy  will  also 
invest  in  actions  ensuring  that  the  pursuit  of  excellence  and  innovation  becomes  a  crucial 
element at all levels of education and training. Compared to 2000-2006, the global result for 
all programmes is an expected increase for R&D and innovation which equates, respectively, 
to  more  than  a  doubling  of  the  relative  effort  and  a  tripling  of  financial  resources  made 
available10. In the new Member States, the share of R&D and innovation expenditure on the 
total budget available will be four times more than in the previous period. For other Member 
States, the overall allocation to R&D and innovation has increased substantially. For example, 
although Structural Funds support in Spain has decreased by around 40% compared to 2000-
2006, R&D expenditure will be doubled to more than EUR 7.5 billion.  

It will be important for R&D investment and investment in innovation to exploit the potential 
of existing poles of excellence and to leverage additional private investment where possible. 
However,  new  ways  to  enhance  national  and  regional  R&D  and  innovation  capacities  and 
make better use of existing RTD potential need to be found. To this end, the Commission is 
proposing  the  launch  of  a  new  generation  of  world-class  laboratories,  instruments  and 
infrastructures  for  fundamental  research  which  will  require  joint  action  across  the  EU  and 
enable Member States and regions to stay at the forefront in research over the next decades. 
The investments required could in part be supported by cohesion programmes in accordance 
with their specific objectives.  

The  promotion  of  entrepreneurship  under  the  new  programmes  is  directly  linked  to  the 
Council priority of unlocking the business potential, particularly of SMEs and emerges as 
another  key  theme  for  2007-2013.  Member  States  and  regions  have  placed  particular 
emphasis on providing business support services to enable enterprises, in particular SMEs, to 
increase their competitiveness and to move into international markets. Services for business 
support, targeting SMEs, are planned to receive some EUR 19 billion in the next seven years, 
equivalent to 5% of the EU resources made available. Cohesion policy will support SMEs to 

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10 

A more detailed analysis of the RTDI content of the adopted and draft programmes at end-October 2007 
is provided in the Commission Staff Working Documents SEC(2007) 1547 of 14.11.2007. 
The relative share of RTDI expenditure increases from around 11% to 25% while the financial volume 
increases from EUR 25.5 billion to EUR 85.2 billion. 

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invest  effectively  in  their  human  capital,  establish  competent  management  structures  and 
anticipate better economic changes. EU support to SMEs will also include investments to help 
foster a more business-friendly environment and to reduce red-tape. It is expected that such 
efforts  will  help  Member  States  to  move  a  step  closer  to  a  'one-stop-shop  approach'  for 
business support.  

A  related  action  in  this  area  has  been  improving  the  access  to  finance  for  businesses  from 
non-grant  sources  such  as  loans  and  venture  capital.  Of  particular  importance  are  the  new 
financial engineering initiatives agreed between the Commission and the EIB Group: the so 
called  JEREMIE11  and  JESSICA12  initiatives  which  seek  to  improve  the  availability  of 
innovative  financial  engineering  products  in  the  regions.  The  resources  from  the  cohesion 
policy  programmes  to  be  invested  under  the  JEREMIE  facility  in  the  period  2007-2013  are 
estimated  at  this  early  stage  to  exceed  EUR  2.5  billion.  More  recently,  the  Commission 
adopted an initiative in the field of supporting micro-credit, which is important for developing 
employment and improving social inclusion13. 

The  Commission  recently  adopted  a  communication  offering  guidance  to  national  and 
regional authorities on the synergies between EU cohesion policy interventions, the Research 
Framework  programmes  and  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Programme14.  It  also 
proposes a number of ways in which the Commission will work to enable the various sources 
of funds to be used in the most effective way while emphasising that the Member States and 
the  regions  have  themselves  to  play  a  leading  role  in  making  the  best  use  of  the  European 
funds at their disposal. 

The new programmes will also seek to improve employability through flexicurity through 
assisting workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs in their efforts to constantly adapt to the new 
challenges  of  the  globalizing  markets.  Some  EUR  13.5  billion  have  been  allocated  to  help 
enterprises to develop forward-looking human resource strategies, to introduce innovative and 
more  productive  forms  of  work  and  work  organisation  and  to  ease  the  transition  process 
resulting  from  restructuring.  In  parallel,  active  labour  market  policies  and  lifelong  learning 
actions  help  to  give  citizens  the  opportunity  to  acquire  the  competences  and  qualifications 
they need in a changing world. This includes direct support to individual and systemic actions 
to  improve  the  functioning  of  the  labour  market.  Altogether  the  new  programmes  foresee 
around EUR 32 billion to enhance access to employment ranging from personal assistance to 
modernisation  of  employment  institutions.  As  concluded  by  the  Council,  effective 
implementation  of  labour  market  reforms  is  only  possible  with  active  participation  of  the 
social  partners  which  will  be  supported  with  approximately  EUR  50  million  from  the 
cohesion  budget.  The  first  estimations  indicate  that  cohesion  policy  will  support  various 
components of flexicurity with resources of around EUR 50 billion over the next seven years. 

Recognising the important economic return on investment from education at the early stages 
of life, resources dedicated to improving human capital will significantly increase in this new 
programming period as compared to the past period. Some EUR 25.3 billion are foreseen to 
support the reform of education and training systems. In this respect, younger generations as a 

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JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises). 
JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas). 
"A new European initiative for the development of micro-credit in support of growth and employment" 
- COM(2007) 708, 13.11.2007. 
“Competitive European Regions through Research and Innovation - A contribution to more growth and 
more and better jobs” - COM(2007) 474, 16.8.2007. 

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significant  source  of  potential  qualified  labour,  will  be  given  particular  attention.  This 
approach has resulted in a strong commitment in cohesion programmes to help to achieve the 
targets related to early school leaving and assisting the young unemployed, as agreed by the 
Council.  

The new programmes also reflect a strong emphasis on improving management of energy 
resources and the move towards efficient and integrated EU energy policy. Much of the 
effort  in  this  sector  falls  to  the  private  sector  and  absolute  levels  of  expenditure  under  the 
programmes therefore appear modest compared to other fields. Compared to the period 2000-
2006,  investments  in  renewable  energies  and  energy  efficiency  will,  however,  be  five  times 
higher  under  the  Convergence  objective  and  seven  times  higher  under  the  Regional 
Competitiveness and Employment objective.  

3.4. 

Addressing other key Council recommendations and Community priorities  

Investments  in  the  Lisbon-related  categories  will  address  a  broad  range  of  issues  to  assist 
Member States to overcome their country specific challenges in the pursuit of the objectives 
set by the Integrated Guidelines and country-specific recommendations. 

The  new  cohesion  policy  programmes  aim  at  creating  win-win  situations  by  strengthening 
potential  synergies  between  environmental  protection,  risk  prevention  and  growth. 
Among  the  priorities  in  this  field  are  the  provision  of  environmental  services  such  as  clean 
water  supplies,  waste  and  waste-water  treatment  infrastructures,  improved  management  of 
natural resources, the decontamination of land to prepare it for new economic activities, and 
protection  against  environmental  risks.  Overall,  some  EUR  51  billion  is  expected  to  be 
invested in these areas.  

An  adequate  transport  network  is  an  essential  pre-condition  for  economic  development  in 
any region or country. Accordingly, Member States and regions eligible for funding under the 
Convergence objective or the Cohesion Fund, have given clear priority to the development of 
the  Trans-European  Transport  Networks  (TEN-T).  Around  half  of  the  entire  allocation 
foreseen  for  transport  (EUR  76  billion)  will  be  allocated  to  TEN-T  projects  (EUR  38 
billion15).  These  include  key  projects  such  as  the  development  of  the  "Rail  Baltica"  which 
runs  from  Helsinki  to  Warsaw,  the  "East-West  Corridor",  a  road  connection  linking  the 
Latvian seaports and Riga with Russia, the multi-modal axis connecting Portugal and Spain 
with  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  many  others.  Other  transport  investments  to  be  funded  by 
cohesion  policy  programmes  include  secondary  connections  to  improve  accessibility  to  the 
TEN-Ts  as  well  as  the  promotion  of  more  environmentally  sustainable  transport  systems, 
amounting  to  nearly  45%  of  the  entire  allocation  foreseen  for  transport,  equivalent  to  some 
EUR 34 billion. 

The  Council  recommended  to  some  Member  States16  to  develop  an  employment  lifecycle 
approach  and  promote  an  inclusive  labour  market  for  those  groups  at  risk  of  social 
exclusion. For example the Council has encouraged the authorities in Poland to complete the 
reform  of  public  employment  services  to  broaden  actions  targeting  disadvantaged  groups 
leading to the allocation of EUR 1.5 billion. The Implementation Reports of Member States 
also underline the important role of cohesion policy programmes in reaching 25% of the long 

15 

16 

The amount increases up to EUR 44,2 billion when investment in intelligent transport systems, airports 
and ports which also contribute to TENT-T networks is included.  
HU, SK, PL, EE 

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term  unemployed  with  active  employment  measures  as  well  as  helping  to  ensure  that  every 
unemployed person is offered a new start. 

Delivering the Lisbon agenda depends on effective public administrations and services. 
Around EUR 3.6 billion will be used to help to modernise public administrations and services 
at  national,  regional  and  local  levels  to  develop  and  implement  effective  policies  and 
programmes.  Actions  will  include  improving  the  quality  and  enforcement  of  legislation, 
carrying out impact assessments and creating accessible and quality services for citizens and 
enterprises. Besides supporting better regulation, interventions will also address the needs to 
streamline administrative procedures and increase the capacity of staff. For example, cohesion 
policy interventions will support Greece in addressing the recommendations to modernise the 
public  administration  and  to  reinforce  its  regulatory,  control  and  enforcement  capacities. 
Similarly,  Bulgaria  and  Romania  have  designed  specific  programmes  to  support  the 
development of administrative capacity as this is recognised as a pre-requisite for the effective 
implementation of all other structural reforms. 

Finally, the  JASPERS17 technical assistance facility which  is  managed  in  a  new  partnership 
with  the  EIB  and  the  EBRD  will  assist  new  Member  States  in  developing  capacities  for 
preparation  of  high  quality  projects,  including  those  organised  as  PPP,  for  support  from  the 
Union. 

3.5. 

Promoting partnerships  

One of the key factors enhancing the added value and effectiveness of cohesion policy is the 
quality of the partnership between all stakeholders, including those at regional and local level, 
in the preparation and implementation of cohesion policy programmes. Cohesion policy has 
developed  a  unique  system  of  multi-level  governance  involving  both  'vertical'  partners 
(Community,  national,  regional  and  local  authorities)  and  'horizontal  stakeholders  (business 
representatives,  trade  unions,  NGOs,  etc).  An  initial  examination  of  the  programming 
documents suggests that approaches to partnership vary across the countries18, depending on 
their  institutional  circumstances.  Whereas  in  many  Member  States  the  structures  for 
involvement of partners in the programming have improved compared to the past, intensive 
co-operation between all the key stakeholders on the reform agenda must be further developed 
during  programme  implementation  in  order  to  ensure  concentration  of  resources  on  the 
growth and jobs strategy. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS  

The  analysis  of  the  new  generation  of  cohesion  policy  strategies  and  programmes  for  the 
period 2007-2013 suggests that most of the resources available will be used to take forward 
the Union’s top policy priority: the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs. This is primarily due 
to  the  major  reform  of  cohesion  policy  2007-2013  which  has  created  the  basis  for  a  more 
strategic  approach  to  investment  planning  based  on  the  Lisbon  strategy  and  for  greater 
ownership  of  the  strategy  on  the  ground  through  the  enhanced  decentralisation  of 
management and the greater role for the partners.  

17 
18 

Joint Assistance in Support of Projects in European Regions.  
In this respect, the work of the Committee of the Regions' Lisbon Monitoring Platform has been very 
useful. http://lisbon.cor.europa.eu/ 

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Encouraged by the new earmarking provisions, the reform of cohesion policy appears to have 
changed  the  nature  of  the  discourse  between  the  Commission  and  the  national  and  regional 
authorities, which has become more focused than previously on ways to develop the factors of 
economic competitiveness and job creation. The Commission also recently drew attention to 
the  importance  of  these  elements  as  key  principles  for  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of 
Community policy in general in preparation for the debate on the EU budget for post-201319.  

In effect, within the overall redistributive framework of the Funds, the accent is turning more 
and more to issues of how best to use the resources. 

At this stage, the programming documents set out the intentions of Member States and regions 
for  the  next  period  and  the  implementation  phase  is  only  just  beginning.  Only  through  the 
delivery of results over the coming years will the high expectations for the new programmes 
be met. It will therefore be essential therefore to ensure effective and timely implementation 
of planned actions and, if necessary, to strengthen agreed provisions to ensure that the close 
link  between  cohesion  policy  and  Lisbon  priorities  can  be  maintained  throughout  the 
programming period. 

The Commission will continue to work closely with the Member States using the systems and 
procedures that have been put in place for monitoring, evaluation and, where necessary, the 
adjustment of the programmes to changing circumstances and priorities. The Commission will 
continue  to  report  on  implementation  as  more  information  becomes  available  and  in  Spring 
2008, the Commission will provide a more detailed report following the conclusions of all of 
the  negotiations  on  the  programmes  for  2007-2013.  The  Commission  will  also  use  the 
opportunity provided by the Lisbon governance cycle to draw the attention of the Council to 
any improvements that may  be  necessary in programme implementation, including  country-
specific recommendations as appropriate. Evaluating results will be important to gain a better 
understanding of the effects that the earmarking exercise has had on growth and jobs. 

In sum, making a success of the new cohesion programmes is critical to realising the Union's 
overall ambitions for strong economic growth, more and better jobs and a higher standard of 
living for its citizens. 

19 

European Commission (2007) Reforming the budget, changing Europe. - SEC(2007) 1188. 

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