Informal Council Regional Policy and Spatial Planning, Namur, 13-14 July 2001

Against the backdrop of EU enlargement, the challenges facing economic and social cohesion will become all the more acute in the EU. Two specific questions were raised at this informal Council meeting: Is enlargement conceivable without a strong regional policy? and, Do the regions of the current 15 Member States need to continue benefiting from structural policy? If so, what should the objectives of such funding be?