STRAT.AT Report 2012 Second Strategic Report for Austria on the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy some selected results Alexandra Deimel Federal Chancellery Division IV/4 – Coordination – Spatial Planning and Regional Policy

2 | Federal State – 9 Länder – 8.2 Mio. Inhabitants GDP per inhabitant (2011): 129 % of EU27 (=100) NSRF and 21 Operational Programs: 1.46 Bill. Euro SF (= 0.4% of EU-Funds) Focus: Strongly committed to Lisbon-Objectives (91% earmarked) Specific focus on networks and local partnerships AT - Framework

3 | Socio-economic development and the economic crises Effects of the crisis: AT proved to be a „resilient“ economic region with excellent problem-solving capacities Due to contraction of investment activities: consequences for the programmes: (i)longer and smaller projects (ii)delays in payments because of the prolongation of the projects (iii)a shift in the focus of the projects from detail engineering to less riskier investments in companies

4 | Ad Indicators: Planning and implementation of the agreed sets of indicators as part of the EU core indicators – in relation to project commitments (ERDF) -Generally good to very good across all programmes - both with respect to financial implementation and attainment of the agreed objective indicators. Implementation Progress

5 | Conclusions for the current programming period STRAT.AT is largely compatible with the EUROPE 2020 strategy -- > current strategies and OPs continue to serve as a reference framework Due to limited amounts  programmes are not suitable as „economic steering elements“ The consequences of the crises are ameliorated by national interventions Challenges for remaining term of the programming period : -Implementation of system adaptations to account for the more stringent requirements for the audit system introduced in the period , but without hindering or slowing down the overall process; -Furthermore, the situation that the management of the current programmes and the complex planning process operate parallel at several levels (national, region) should be solved in the new programming period

6 | Conclusions for the further design of the EU Structural Policy 2014 Good governance principles must be strictly observed by all sides avoidance of an excessive density of regulations, timely and clear definition of the rules and avoidance of any ex-post additions or new interpretations Improve the performance of the system: et.al. sufficient resources Vertical coordination: deepen the relationship to the NRP Harmonisation of the regulations: by the EC as well as in the national financial aid rules – e.g. with EU framework programme Proportionality As regards content: emphasis on research and the related development of locations as well as more on „CO 2 reduction“ What is needed: framework conditions from the EU and MS that permit and/or encourage higher risk tolerance and enable clear, enforceable strategies.