Memorandum by Patricia Garcia-Duran and
Montserrat Millet, International Law and Economy Department, University
of Barcelona
What criteria should guide decisions on the proportion
of the EU budget to be allocated to structural funds?
1. The Structural Funds proportion of the
EU budget should not be decided on the bases of Member States
net contributions.
2. Criteria should include the need to support
the development of basic infrastructure in the member states,
the need to support all regions compliance with the Lisbon Agenda,
and the need to develop a polycentric model of territorial development.
3. The most competitive regions in Europe
from the Lisbon criteria viewpoint are also the most prepared
to benefit from the Research and Development European budget.
The less competitive and poor regions of the EU are the ones that
receive the most from the Structural Funds. Rural regions are
the ones that can benefit the most from the CAP. What is needed
is to clarify the position of medium-income non-rural regions.
4. Middle-income non-rural regions should
receive EU financial support, as the other regions do from different
sources, so as to improve their compliance with the Lisbon Agenda.
This support can either come from the Structural Funds or from
a reviewed and adapted Research and Development Policy.
Are the current eligibility tests for regions
to receive support under the EU's Structural Funds relevant, fair
and appropriate? Should they remain in place after 2013? Is it
appropriate that they are discussed simultaneously with wider
agreements on allocating EU budget spending?
1. The current eligibility tests are appropriate
since they take into account the middle-income non-rural regions.
Nevertheless, this support can be modified so as to be included
within an expanded Research and Development European Policy. This
transfer and revision of the present competitiviness regional
objective would allow a greater focus on efficiency and, if necessary,
the introduction of conditionality.
What would be the effect of linking the availability
of Structural Funds with compliance to Broad Economic Policy Guidelines?
1. The effect of linking the availability
of Structural Funds with compliance to Broad Economic Policy Guidelines
would be that of depriving the European Regional Policy of its
"solidarity" value. Structural Funds have always had
an implicit solidarity objective that cannot be made conditional.
Conditionality must be reserved to policies that only have an
"efficiency" objective.
2. Moreover, the effectiveness of Structural
Funds can be improved without the need to linking its support
to external conditionality as improvements made since 1988 have
proved.
8 January 2008
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