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EU DEVELOPMENT POLICY 2007 - 2013 The structural funds budget and the rules for its use are decided by the Council and the European Parliament on the basis of a proposal from the European Commission (EC). The Commission makes a proposal after having consulted closely with Member States over the Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion (CSG). This is the pillar of the policy which gives it a strategic dimension. The Guidelines guarantee that Member States adjust their programming in line with the priorities of the Union to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, foster the growth of knowledge-based economy and create more and better jobs. Each Member State prepares a National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), coherent with the Community Strategic Guidelines, over the course of an ongoing dialogue with the Commission. The rules outline that, after the adoption of the strategic guidelines, a Member State has five months to send its NSRF to the Commission. That document defines the strategy chosen by the Member State and proposes a list of Operational Programmes it hopes to implement. The Commission has three months after receipt of NSRF to make any comments and to request any additional information from the Member State. The Commission validates certain parts of NSRF that require a decision, as well as each Operational Programme (OP). The OPs present the priorities of the Member State (and/or regions) as well as the way in which it will lead its programming. An obligation exists, however, for the countries and the regions, related to the Convergence Objective: 60% of expenditure must be allocated to the priorities arising from the Union’s strategy for growth and jobs (called the Lisbon Strategy). For countries and regions concerned by the Competitiveness and Employment Objective the percentage is 75%. The third objective is the European Territorial Cooperation Objective, i.e. cross-border and transnational cooperation. For the 2007-2013 period, around 450 OPs will be adopted by the European Commission. Economic and social partners as well as civil society bodies participate in the programming and management of the OPs. After the European Commission has taken a decision on the Operational Programmes, the Member States and their regions then have the task of implementing the programmes, i.e. selecting the thousands of projects, monitoring them and assessing them. All this work takes place through what are known as Management Authorities (MAs) in each country and/or each region. EU REGIONAL POLICY Within the European Commission, regional policy and development funding for Member States fall under the Directorate General for Regional Policy led by the Commissioner Danuta Hübner (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm). EU Cohesion Policy The Cohesion Policy has been the second most important EU common policy for some time. For the 2007 – 2013 period, out of the total of €864.3 billion, €308 billion are allocated to Cohesion Policy. The financial “weight” of this policy reflects the weight of social and economic differences within the EU, but also the political significance of “cohesion” for the united Europe project. In other words, with every enlargement, the EU has been taking in poorer and less developed countries that need to be integrated into the common market as soon as possible, and need to be transformed into equal participants of the economic and political project. Additional development funding from the EU level is a way of strengthening all regions and the entire population of EU to enable them to use all the benefits of the common market of goods, capital, labour and services: the greater the market, the greater the labour and education mobility, the broader the selection of services, etc. In the beginning, the emphasis was on achieving balanced development within the EU, but in time, the objective of the Cohesion Policy has shifted towards strengthening global competitiveness of European economy. The trend is also pronounced in the latest Policy reform: since 2007, greater emphasis has been placed on research and development, innovation, of training to meet the demands of the labour market, IT infrastructure, cooperation with the private sector in co-financing and preparation of projects, environmental sustainability, mitigation of natural and technological risks, etc. The purpose of the reform is to link the Cohesion Policy with the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy and turn it into leverage in the sustainable economic growth of the EU – in other words, to make it something much more than just a balanced regional development policy. EU’s contribution to sustainable economic growth of the Member States is achieved through the allocation of EU funds – and thus national funds, as well (co-funding) – to priority investments (those with significant economic effect), and through the introduction of a higher quality approach to development into the national practices of Member States, based on strategic planning. Structural Funds EU Structural Funds serve the purpose of EU Cohesion Policy. The goal of the policy taking up more than a third of the entire EU budget is to achieve economic and social cohesion, i.e. balanced development within the European Union. Structural Funds are used to finance development projects which will help reduce disparities between the developed and the less developed parts of EU, as well as promote the overall competitiveness of European society and economy. Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are available to EU Member States that require additional, EU investments for balanced and sustainable economic and social development. Croatia will have access to these funds after EU accession. In the pre-accession period, Croatia and other candidate states have an opportunity to adapt and prepare for the management and use of those funds through IPA – Instruments for Pre-Accession Assistance. A General Regulation defines common principles, rules and standards for the implementation of the three cohesion instruments – the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund. Based on the principle of shared management between the Union and the Member States and regions, this regulation sets out a renewed programming process, based on Community Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion and their follow-up, as well as common standards for financial management, control and evaluation. The reformed delivery system will provide for a simpler, proportional and more decentralized management of the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. General Regulation 1083/2006 and the accompanying Corrigenda from 2006 and 2007 can be obtained from: The Funds financing EU Cohesion Policy are:
 l_21020060731en00120018.pdfEuropean Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) This legal instrument aims to promote cross-border, transnational and/or regional cooperation between regional and local authorities. The funds will be invested into the implementation of territorial co-operation programmes based on the convention adopted by national, regional, local and other public authorities involved in the process. Council Regulation No. 1082/2006 on European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, see: Community programmes Community Programmes are an integrated series of activities implemented by the European Community or Union in order to promote the cooperation among member countries in various fields related to the common policies of the European Community. Based on a special item in the General Budget of the European Union, the Community Programs are in principle intended for the EU member countries, but some are open to the countries in the process of accession. They are, therefore, considered to be among the more important instruments of pre-accession strategy, and represent a way of familiarizing candidate countries with the working methods of the EU, as well as integrating them into the EU sectoral policies prior to their accession. Non-member countries, which do not contribute to the General Budget of the EU, are required to pay membership contribution in order to participate in the Community Programmes. The contribution varies from one programme to another. The quality of submitted projects determines the amount of financing obtained from the programmes, whether they would exceed or equal the amount of contribution paid. Community programmes are implemented in accordance with the centralized implementation model, where the European Commission bodies – Directorates General in charge of each programme - are responsible for their financial management and implementation. Financial supervision or audit is performed or monitored by the European Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF (Office européen de lutte anti-fraude), and the European Court of Auditors. Separate memoranda of understanding govern the details of implementation of each programme Croatia applies for. The bodies responsible for the implementation of the Community programmes in Croatia are:
Memoranda of Understanding for the participation of Croatia in the Community programmes Community Programmes in which the Republic of Croatia is participating as a Third Country Other development policy funds Special funds significant for the regional policy, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP, see Regulation 1290/2005 – see
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