<p>History of the policy – Regional Policy – European Commission</p>
1957 – 1987
1988 – 1992
1988 – to adapt to the arrival of Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), the Structural Funds were integrated into a framework cohesion policyintroducing the key principles:
focus on the poorest and most backward regions
multiannual programming
strategic direction of investments
involvement of regional and local partners
Budget: ECU 64 billion
1994 – 1999
1993 – the Maastricht Treaty introduced three new features:
1993 – creation of the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance
1994-99 – the resources of the structural and cohesion funds have been doubled to reach one third of the EU budget.
1995 – a special objective has been added to support sparsely populated regions in Finland and Sweden.
Budget: ECU 168 billion
2000 – 2006
2000 – the “Lisbon strategy” shifted EU priorities towards growth, jobs and innovation. Cohesion policy priorities have changed accordingly.
2000-04 – the pre-accession instruments have made funding and expertise available to countries awaiting EU membership
2004 – the accession of ten new countries (increasing the population of the EU by 20%, but its GDP by only 5%).
Budget: 213 billion euros for the 15 current members; 22 billion euros for the new member countries (2004-06)
2007 – 2013
2007: Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union
2013: Croatia joins the European Union
Simplified rules and structures
The emphasis on transparency and communication and an even stronger focus on growth and jobs are key elements of the reform
Main areas of investment (25% is devoted to research and innovation and 30% to environmental infrastructure and measures to combat climate change)
