Irish Regions Office Website

July 17, 2010

Campaign to maintain Structural Funding for all

With the post-2014 shape of the EU Budget still very much a work in progress, and with the Commission's Fifth Cohesion Report expected in November ahead of a vital Council of Ministers meeting in Liege, there are fears that the Structural Funds, which provide a guaranteed EUR2 million per week in 'Objective 2' EU investment support to Ireland from 2007-2013, could be remodeled into a purely compensatory support package restricted to only the very poorest parts of Europe.

As part of their lobbying campaign to prevent this coming to pass, on 7 October, key political representatives from an estimated 100 European regions in which these 'Competitiveness & Employment' Programmes operate - including Ireland's Border, Midland & Western and Southern & Eastern Regions - will gather in Brussels to sign a joint declaration. This demonstration of intention to secure continued European support for tailored, bottom-up, place-based interventions to help all regions to overcome structural weaknesses and properly realise their development potential will then be presented to the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn, as well as the Vice-President of the European Parliament.

Meanwhile, on 6 July the European Parliament agreed a resolution asking the Commission to present a special study on the effects of the financial crisis on EU regions, particularly Objective 2 regions. The study could possibly lend weight to the continuation of Structural Funds in their current form, an idea which has overwhelming support from MEPs.

EP Resolution

Posted by iroronan at July 17, 2010 02:40 PM