马厚亮近况,寿光租房网,冰与火之歌第二季05
凝聚政策的金融工具
1957年罗马条约的签订促进了欧洲经济共同体（EEC）的建立。在序言和罗马条约第2条指出，有必要加强各成员国的经济统一，“减少各地区和有利于地区的落后的分歧”，突出指出要促进经济活动的“和谐发展“（罗马条约，1957年）。然而，对于这些承诺的注意力是最小的，直到1975年在欧洲地区发展创造了第一个结构基金——发展基金（ERDF）。由ERDF的方式分配财政资源的目的是要促进结构与区域发展，来准备成员国经济和货币在那一刻联盟（八坼，1998年，第31-32页;曼泽拉和门德斯，2009年，页5-8）。
在1989-1993年期间推出的凝聚政策是发展过程的一个重要里程碑。三个新会员国（希腊，西班牙和葡萄牙）的加入大大拓宽了社区内的地区差异，并促进了显著改革。建立单一市场跨社区的决定是改革（八坼，1998年，第67-68页）的主要驱动力。除了单一市场，在“经济和社会凝聚力”的新头衔更综合社区的区域发展政策，在1986年的单一欧洲法案正式讨论（曼泽拉和门德斯，2009年，第14页）。
Financial Instruments Of The 2007 2013 Cohesion Policy Economics Essay
The Treaty of Rome of 1957 led to the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC). In the Preamble and Article 2 of the Treaty of Rome, the need to strengthen the economic unity of Member States by “reducing the differences existing between the various regions and the backwardness of the less favoured regions” by promoting a “harmonious development of economic activities” was highlighted (Treaty of Rome, 1957). However, the attention devoted to those commitments was minimal until the creation of the first Structural Fund for regional development in 1975, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The financial resources allocated by means of the ERDF were intended to facilitate structural and regional development in order to prepare the Member States at that moment for the Economic and Monetary Union (Bache, 1998, pp. 31-32; Manzella & Mendez, 2009, pp. 5-8).
The 1989-1993 period constituted a key milestone in the development of the Cohesion Policy. The accession of three new Member States (Greece, Spain and Portugal) considerably widened the regional disparities within the Community and led to a significant reform. The decision to establish the Single Market across the Community was the main driver of the reform (Bache, 1998, pp. 67-68). In addition to the Single Market, a more integrated Community regional development policy under the new title of “economic and social cohesion” was officially addressed in the Single European Act of 1986 (Manzella & Mendez, 2009, p. 14).
One aim of the reform was to integrate the three existing Structural Funds under the umbrella of the new Cohesion Policy. With regard to the 1994-1999 programming period, no radical changes in the structure and principles of the Cohesion Policy took place. Nevertheless, the Treaty on the European Union signed in Maastricht in 1992 constituted a new step in the policy development. Within the context of the adoption of the Economic and Monetary Union and the completion of the Single Market, “economic and social cohesion” was promoted as one of the key EU objectives. Furthermore, in addition to the three Structural Funds (ESF, EAGGF, and ERDF), another financial instrument was created. The Cohesion Fund was designated to co-finance environment and transport infrastructure projects in less-developed regions that had a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less the 90% of the EU average. These regions were primarily in Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland. The great attention devoted to the Structural and Cohesion Funds involved a substantial increase of 50% of the annual financial resources for the period (one third of the total EU budget). Another important component in the development of the Cohesion Policy was the establishment of the Committee of Regions in order to encourage regional authorities to participate in the policy-making decision process of the EU (European Commission, 2008, pp. 14-16; Manzella & Mendez, 2009, pp. 15-16).
Among other reforms, the 2000-2006 period was marked by changes in the design and procedures of the EU Cohesion Policy. These changes included: (a) a greater concentration of the financial assistance by reducing the number of policy objectives, (b) a stronger participation of Member States in the design and management of programmes, (c) a simplification of the policy implementation process, and (d) a financial control requirement reinforced by binding monitoring and reporting (Manzella & Mendez, 2009, pp. 16-17). Another highlight of the period was the accession of 10 new Member States with different levels of economic development to the EU in May 2004. This enlargement of the EU extensively increased regional disparities, especially in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It resulted in “a 20% increase in the EU’s population, but only a 5% increase in the Union’s GDP” (European Commission, 2008, p. 18). In addition to this, difficult macroeconomic conditions such as the introduction of the Euro and concern regarding growing unemployment had a tremendous impact on the budget allocation for the 2000-2006 period. The budget share remained constant and was distributed as follows: for the old 15 EU Member States the financial resources totaled up to €213 billion, while for the 10 new entrants it represented €22 billion (European Commission, 2008, p. 18; Manzella & Mendez, 2009, p. 16).
The most far-reaching reform of the EU Cohesion Policy was adopted in the current 2007-2013 period. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU in 2007 amplified the already existent regional disparities. This increase in the number of EU Member States was reflected by a financial boost. Therefore, the financial allocation designated to implement the Cohesion Policy’s major objectives was increased considerably. With regard to the Cohesion Policy objectives, the increased financial allocation was closely linked to the objectives of competitiveness, economic growth, and employment laid down in the Lisbon Strategy (Manzella & Mendez, 2009, p. 18).
To conclude, the EU Cohesion Policy suffered major transformations from the Treaty of Rome in 1957 until the current programming period 2007-2013. However, it is worth mentioning that despite the increased budgetary package and the widened regional gaps triggered by the accession of new Member States, the main goal of the Policy has remained unchanged over the years: narrowing economic and social disparities in less-developed regions across the EU.
Objectives and principles of the 2007-2013 EU Cohesion Policy
In order to conduct an analysis of the EU Cohesion Policy in Romania for the 2007-2013 period, it is necessary to gain an understanding of the core principles and objectives for the management and implementation of the policy’s financial instruments.
The European Council (EC) Regulation No. 1083/2006, that governs the EU Cohesion Policy, lays down nine principles for implementing the Structural and Cohesion Funds. Relevant for the further analysis are the following four core principles: (a) programming, (b) partnership, (c) additionality and (d) concentration.
The principle of programming was first introduced in the reform of 1988 and refers to a more transparent and coherent design of programmes. In addition, the implementation of EU funds takes place through multi-annual programmes representing an essential shift from the former project-based approach. Important to mention is also the simplified programming process. Under this principle, Member States exert greater influence in designing and managing programmes compared to the previous programming periods. In this regard, they submit a single document for European Commission approval, the so-called Single Programming Document. This document comprises the national development priorities designated for further implementation through branch-specific Operational Programmes (OPs) (Bachtler & Mendez, 2007, p. 547; Pollack, 1995, p. 380).
The principle of partnership has been constantly developed since it was officially defined in 1988. This principle aims at improving the efficiency of the Cohesion Policy by extending over time the number of actors involved in the various stages of the programming process. Thus, a close cooperation at different levels (e.g. between the European Commission, national, regional and local authorities and non-state actors) is promoted (Bache, 2008, p. 24). However, Allen (2000) relates the effectiveness in involving sub-national actors rather to “the nature of the constitutional arrangements in a particular member state than [to] the Commission’s partnership arrangements” (Allen, 2005, p. 231).
Ultimately, the third objective, the European Territorial Cooperation, objective was designed to strengthen three different types of cooperation: cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. The goal of the European Territorial Cooperation objective is to provide cooperation in the areas of “research, information technology, environment, accessibility, natural and cultural resources and sustainable urban development” (Molle, 2007, pp. 157-158). Around 2.5% of the total budget for the EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 is allocated to this objective with the contribution of the ERDF. The objective is complementary to the other two objectives mentioned in the European Council (EC) Regulation No. 1083/2006 since regions are eligible to receive EU funding under the European Territorial Cooperation objective and under the first two objectives (European Commission, 2007, pp. 20-24). |
