The present work examines the reasons that gave rise to European Regional Policy and describes its principles and basic objectives, as well as the operational transformations it underwent from the 1988 Structural Fund reform till the approval of the Agenda 2000. Its ability to correct regional...

The present paper first describes the European Union’s structural policy framework for the 2000-2006 period, setting out the objectives and instruments and highlighting the funding granted by the European Council in 1999. In this context, the second part of the paper aims to describe the...

This paper addresses the potential impact of the current European Union (EU) enlargement process on EU economic and social cohesion programmes. The first part highlights the reason why enlargement is a priority for the EU and explains the pre-enlargement strategy carried out in the nineties. The...

At the door of the XXI century, the Agenda 2000 and the agreements reached at the European Council of Berlin opened the possibility for a new design of European policies. The three fundamental aspects discussed were: the reformulation of Structures Policy, the reformulation of Common Agrarian...

This paper addresses the recent European Social Fund (ESF) reform and the possible consequences for Social Economy. The reform was adopted in 1999 and applies to the period from 2000 to 2006. After a brief overview of the European Social Fund since it was created in 1957, the main features to...

Many European countries, especially during the early post-accession years, have faced difficulties in absorbing the structural funds from the EU budget, the most cited reasons being generated by the lack of a coherent long-term vision of the authorities, insufficient resources to co-finance...

EU Accession has had the most impact on the agricultural sector and rural dwellers’ living conditions. Currently the first phase of EU Structural Funds benefits is coming to an end. The objective of this study is to provide an international overview on how to make use of rural development...

This Paper analyses the growth and employment effects of the 1994-99 Community Support Framework (CSF) for the Objective 1 Spanish regions, using a simple supply-side model estimated with a panel of regional data. The results suggest that the impact of the Structural Funds in Spain has been...

In this study we look at whether the seven Portuguese NUTS II regions have been able to share equally in the country’s overall growth or whether there have been asymmetries and divergences in their growth patterns. We assess the regional impact of a wide range of Portuguese domestic policies...