Regions & Cities 2013: Cohesion Policy and Regional Aid

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EUOBSERVER MAGAZINE REGIONS & CITIES OCTOBER 2013 REGIONAL PARTNERS It is October 2013 and the eve of a new long-term budget for the European Union. The past years have been marked by record unemployment and stagnant growth. The dominant political theme in the EU has been budgetslashing austerity and a focus on being more efficient with fewer resources. This has seriously affected Cohesion Policy for the coming years (2014- 2020). While still representing a third of the EU budget, the cohesion pot is €22 billion smaller when compared to the current budget cycle. How the new money (€325bn) is to be spent will also change. Regional affairs commissioner Johannes Hahn tells these pages that projects which lack strategic thinking will “no longer be acceptable.” Meanwhile, regional authorities need to keep in mind the EU’s long-term economic goals and run the risk of being punished if central governments fall foul of EU budget rules. One academic says the revamp is absolutely “not business as usual.” And so, regional representatives have much to talk about as they gather for this year’s Open Days week. This magazine looks at the issues in an interview with Hahn, reviews the changes to cohesion spending and explores some past successes and failures of EU regional aid. EDITORIAL ADDRESS EUobserver Magazine Rue Belliard 203, bté 5 1040 Bruxelles Belgium contact@euobs.com Editor: Lisbeth Kirk Editorial contributors: Honor Mahony and Ben Fox Article layout: Tobias Andreasen Cover photo: © European Commission ADVERTISING EUobserver Magazine Rue Montoyer 18B 1000 Brussels Belgium Filip Lugovic fl@euobs.com PRINT PMR DISTRIBUTION EUobserver Magazine Rue Montoyer 18B 1000 Brussels Belgium Meg Chang mc@euobs.com Price per copy €4,75 + postage, excl vat / discounts on larger purchases Publisher EUobserver.com ASBL www.euobserver.com EUobserver is an English language online newspaper covering European Union affairs. It is constituted as a non-profit organisation under Belgian law raising revenue on a commercial basis through a variety of income streams including advertising, fundraising, conferences, magazines and book sales. 2 OCTOBER 2013 REGIONS & CITIES
OCTOBER 2013 REGIONS & CITIES 3 European Union European Regional Development Fund
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Regions & Cities 2013: Cohesion Policy and Regional Aid

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