New members in EU funds spending frenzy[fr] 

The new member states received a record €4.3 billion in payments under the EU structural and cohesion funds in 2007 – the same amount as they managed to spend over the three previous years put together (2004, 2005 and 2006), the Commission announced on 12 February. 

The figure brings the average "absorption rate" of EU regional funding by new member states for the 2000-2006 programming period up to 75%, ranging from the "worst" spender, Cyprus, which absorbed just 62% of its financial allocations to the "best", Hungary, with 82%. 

"For the EU-15, it is 84%," said Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner, adding: "One can safely say that the new member states have nearly caught up the old member states in the implementation of structural funds." 

In September last year, Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite had urged the new members to get their act together after a 2006 budget report revealed that 43% of their structural funds and 78% of their cohesion funds had gone unused (EurActiv 25/09/07). "Don't dream about an endless possibility to absorb these funds," she had cautioned, saying: "Absorption levels are not satisfactory and time is running out." 

EU countries have until the end of 2008 to claim reimbursement for programmes under the 2000-2006 period. 

In the meantime, the 2007-2013 period is already well under way, with 417 of 434 operational programmes already adopted by the Commission. Member states claimed payments worth €7 billion under the scheme in 2007. 

"This year will be particularly demanding […] We have to manage two programming periods, in a peculiar moment – for one we are finishing and for the other one we are starting – and both the start and the end are full of challenges," said Hübner. 

The key aim for 2008 will be to ensure that EU money is not only being spent but also well-spent. "The buzzword for this year is also to ensure the quality of investment," said Hübner, adding that a large share of funds for regional programmes will be concentrated on innovation, economic modernisation and the Lisbon goals of growth and job creation.