Est. 2min 27-06-2003 (updated: 07-11-2012 ) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Poland is the first among the 10 future Member States to start negotiations on its regional development spending in the first three years after its accession to the EU. Poland will be by far the largest recipient of Structural Funds and of the Cohesion Fund amongst the new Member States. The Copenhagen European Council of December 2002 committed to Poland for the period 2004-2006 almost 8.3 billion euro under the EU Structural Funds and 4.2 billion euro under the Cohesion Fund. This represents approximately 1.8 per cent of Polish GDP for that period. The first round of negotiations with Poland begin on 27 June in Warsaw. They will be dedicated to the Community Support Framework and related Operational Programmes for the period 2004-2006. Poland has 16 regions, all of which are eligible for Objective 1 assistance, dedicated to regions whose development is lagging behind. The overall objective of the funds is to increase growth and to create employment through investment. Through seven Operational Programmes, the Structural Funds will concentrate on the transport system including urban transport, on rural development, education, training, labour market policy, environment, the overall business environment and information society in a progressively knowledge based economy. The Cohesion Fund will concentrate on transport and environment infrastructures. Read more with Euractiv Culture Council wants qualified majority voting to be applied to cultural policyCulture Ministers discussed the place of culture in the future EU constitution during their informal meeting on 24-25 May 2003. Most of the Member States support a change from unanimity to qualified majority voting in this field. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters Positions Polandwas the first accession country to submit to the Commission a full set of proposals at the beginning of 2003, based on its National Development Plan 2004-2006. Commissioner Michel Barnier, responsible for regional policy,said that the Plan represented a good basis for negotiations. "It is very important that the European programmes in Poland are a success not only because of the clear needs that exist within the country but also because of the demonstration that it would provide of the added value of EU intervention in this field, as its institutions engage in difficult negotiations for a new generation of cohesion policies for the period after 2006," stated Mr Barnier. BackgroundThe EU's regional policy is based on financial solidarity between the Member States whose contributions to the Union's budget go to the less prosperous regions and social groups. For the 2000-2006 period, these transfers will account for one third of the EU budget, or 213 billion euro. 195 billion euro will be spent by the four Structural Funds (the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance and the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund), 18 billion euro will be spent by the Cohesion Fund. TimelineThe EU plans to start negotiations with all the future recipients of regional aid by the end of September 2003. Talks with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia are due to start in July. Negotiations with the other five future EU members will be launched in September. The talks are expected to continue until the end of 2003. The future Member States will become eligible for expenditure under the Union's Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund on 1 January 2004, four months ahead of their accession to EU membership. The EU is expected to start the debate on reforming its regional development policies at the end of 2003 when the Commission is due to present its first legislative proposal for the 2007-2013 financial perspective.
