EUROPEAN STUCTURAL FUNDS Esben Poulsen, European Commission Head of the INTERREG Unit Directorate General for Regional Policy INTERREG IIIB Partner Search Forum Riga, 25 October 2001

2 EU Budget % 30.3% 3.1% 8.3% Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund AgriculturalPolicy Enlargement Pre-accession Average Annual Expenditure: billion EURO

3 Structural and Cohesion Funds In billion € 15 18

4 Structural and Cohesion Funds + new MS

5 Increased budget: è : 4.9 billion euro è : 3.6 billion euro INTERREG

6 Allocating 5 billion EURO - some of the shares: n Spain900 million n Germany737 million n United Kingdom362 million n Netherlands349 million n Sweden 154 million n Finland 129 million n Denmark 34 million n Networks 47 million

7 General principles: –Economic and social cohesion – Balanced and sustainable development of the European territory development of the European territory – Territorial integration with candidate and other neighbouring countries STUCTURAL FUNDS

8 3 strands : 3 strands : A: Cross-border co-operation A: Cross-border co-operation (67%) B: Trans-national co-operation B: Trans-national co-operation (27%) C: Interregional co-operation C: Interregional co-operation (6%) INTERREG III

9 Cross Border co-operation Eligible regions INTERREG III - STRAND A

10 INTERREG III STRAND B Budget: n : 440 million euro n : million euro Trans-national cooperation

11 INTERREG III STRAND B 13 programmes: 10 programmes in continental Europe + 3 for Ultra-peripheral regions

12 3 Strand B Cooperation Areas

13 n The thematic priorities: è Spatial development strategies è Transport and communications systems è Management of natural resources (e.g. water) è Management of cultural heritage è Maritime and insular co-operation  Linkages of outermost regions INTERREG III B Trans-national co-operation

14 Integrated Coastal Zone Management IIIB Project North Sea IIIB area

15 IIIB Project North West Europe HST Network HST Network Objectives: - promoting more sustainable transport choices over mid- long distances, - preventing growing congestions and pollution, - revitalize old and deprived areas around stations - catalyst to and revitalize integration of these areas into the urban fabric; - improvement feedering systems and regional transport system. -internet site:

16 IIIB Project Baltic Sea IIIB area Objective: è Manage eutrophication problem By: é identification é analysing é evaluate strategies é co-ordinated actions Baltic Sea Eutrophication Network Eutrophication Network

17 INTERREG III STRAND B Trans-national cooperation Top down Bottom up Sectoral - spatial - national - regional - local -public - private Process:

18 Succes criteria: n Community value added n Move toward concrete projects n Clear objectives: targets, baseline, indicators n Truly transnational INTERREG III

19 n 6% of allocation: 293 million euro n Programme-based approach n Regional strategies n Co-operation, exchange of experience & Networking INTERREG III STRAND C Interregional co-operation Interregional co-operation NEW

20 Programme areas: North Zone West Zone East Zone South Zone Programme approach: a management tool

21 Interreg IIIC Operations ProgrammeProgramme Individual projects NetworksNetworks Regional Framework Operations

22 Regional Framework Operation Swedish lead partner

23 Individual project Spanish Lead Partner

24 Network German Lead Partner

25 Thank you very much for your attention More info: