EU structural funds beyond Agenda 2000. Reform and implications for current and future member states

Book abstract:

This book has partly grown out of the various seminars and consultancy projects carried out by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) for the countries that have applied for membership of the European Union in the area of economic and social cohesion. It does, however, have a wider perspective. The EU's structural funds have undergone extensive reform and the strengthening of the capacity for effective management of the Structural and the Cohesion Funds is a matter of concern to both existing and prospective Member States. For this reason, the publication of the book coincided with a seminar organised by the EIPA on 13-14 April 2000 on the content and consequences of the recent reform of the Structural Funds. The authors' purpose is to review the objectives, instruments and procedures of EU cohesion policy and its principal instruments - embodied in the Structural Funds - taking into account the latest changes as a result of the Agenda 2000 reforms. Through the use of different case studies, the implementation of Structural Funds in the Member States is analysed and examples of what may be termed 'best practice' are provided.

The chapters are: Introduction and summary of main findings; Economic and social cohesion in the enlarging European Union; EU structural funds in practice; Experiences of current Member States in the implementation of structural funds; The cohesion fund; Lessons from past accessions; New Member States and the structural funds: formulating an effective negotiating strategy.

In the concluding chapter, the authors aim to identify how prospective Member States may strengthen their capacities to effectively implement EU Structural Fund programmes and to highlight the issues that are likely to prove significant in the ongoing negotiations for their accession to the EU.

This book should prove to be a standard source of reference for officials from both existing and new Member States.