Tag: structural funds

French President François Hollande positioned himself as a promoter of growth and solidarity and tried to woo MEPs on the EU's long-term budget as he spoke to the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday (5 February). EurActiv France reports.

The next long-term budget for the EU must recognise cities’ potential for playing a much greater role in the economic recovery and therefore the urgent priority for investment in urban Europe, writes Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.

Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu is due to visit Brussels today (15 March) to lobby for help in spending €6 billion in EU structural funds to boost the country's flagging economy. EurActiv Romania contributed to this article.

Portuguese MEP Maria da Graça Carvalho (European People's Party) is calling for more structural funds to be used for research in a new report to be discussed at a Parliamentary workshop later this month. She is a firm believer that Europe needs to spend more on science and research to emerge from its current economic malaise.

The European Commission has unveiled yesterday (6 October) its blueprint for the next generation of EU cohesion funds after 2013, under which it will be able to suspend funding if member states flout budget rules or breach the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact. 

As the euro zone continues to dangle the carrot of further aid to a Greek economy hammered by debt, EU leaders on Thursday (23 June) endorsed a European Commission proposal to clean up the country's public sector using EU structural funds.

The cohesion policy (or regional policy) of the European Union provides a framework for financing a wide range of projects and investments with the aim of encouraging economic growth in EU member states and their regions. The policy is reviewed by the EU institutions once every seven years. The next round of programmes is to be launched in 2014.

Poland warned cuts in the European Union's budget were not on the agenda of a summit of EU leaders on 16-17 December, during which the UK is expected to ask for a 25% reduction in the EU's long-term spending for 2014-2020.

A major Europe-wide survey has revealed that two out of three citizens are not aware of any projects that the EU co-finances in their area. However, awareness is higher in those countries that receive the most money from Brussels.

National governments are holding back EU regional funding from local authorities that work with private contractors to deliver transport, waste and water services, according to E3PO, a group which promotes public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Europe's incoming innovation commissioner is pledging to tap the EU's structural funds to build research infrastructure and capacity. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn also revealed she would chair meetings of EU commissioners with responsibilities for innovation as part of her new "cross-cutting" portfolio.

The EU may offer funding to Nokia workers set to lose their jobs when the cellphone giant closes its plant in Bochum to shift production to Romania, Commission President José Manuel Barroso announced at the weekend. Meanwhile, Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen pledged that this case would prompt a rethink of state subsidies.

The Commission's research advisory board, EURAB, urges the Commission and the EU-27 to make better use of Structural Funds to enhance research and innovation, in particular at regional level.

The EU's enlargement on 1 May 2004 has exacerbated economic and social disparities across the EU. Recipients of Structural and Cohesion Funds such as Ireland and Spain are now being called on to contribute to the development of their new partners. In the 2007-2013 financial perspectives, cohesion policy amounts to 35.7% of the total EU budget (€308 billion), 62% of which should finance projects linked to the Lisbon agenda for growth and employment.

A new Cohesion Policy with added focus on environment, growth and job creation was backed by the Parliament on 4 July.

German economy minister Michael Glos challenges the Commission's powers to define which kinds of investments are relevant to the EU's Jobs and Growth strategy.