REGIONAL POLICY

1
REGIONAL POLICY

• Measuring  
• - level of income - unemployment - migration
  - industrial development
• Types of Disadvantage
• - locational - structural
• Reasons for policy
• - employment policy - to maximise growth - to
  reduce inflation - more equitable distribution
  - social
• Ways of assisting - grants - port development
  - relocation of state activities
•  

2
REGIONAL POLICY IN IRELAND

• DEBATE 1960's
• - concentration v dispersionist approach  
• Buchanan report
• - recommended concentration but government in
  practice chose the
• dispersionist route 
• IDA POLICY 1970's
• - detailed regional plans 73-77 - designated
  and non-designated areas
•  
•     EU REGIONAL POLICY 75 -
• - initially all of Irish republic treated as a
  single area - initially this led to an
  abandonment of commitment to internal
• regional planning
• - however in recent years country has been
  divided into two regions fo
• EU Structural Funds purposes

3
IRISH PLANNING REGIONS

• DONEGAL
• EAST Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath
• MIDLANDS - Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon
  and Longford
• NORTH EAST - Cavan, Monaghan and Louth
• NORTH WEST - Sligo and Leitrim
• SOUTH EAST - Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny
  and South Tipperary
• SOUTH WEST - Cork, Kerry
• WEST - Galway, Mayo
• MID WEST - Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary  
   

4
REGIONAL POLICY - RATIONALE

• Disparities in income within Community
• - this has now taken on a new important
  dimension with the entry of
• 10 new countries to communitywith a
  compartively low standard of
• living 
• Effects of EU membership  
• Border Problems
• Areas predominantly dependent on agriculture and
  fishing  
• Tendency for industry to gravitate towards centre
  of Europe 
• Problems associated with EMU  
• To make national policies more effective

5
EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

• Established under Rome Treaty
• Grants loans on non-profit making basis
• - financed by member states
• - projects for backward regions - for
  modernising or developing undertakings -
  projects of common interest to several member
  states - money also provided for non-EU
  countries 
• Ireland considerable beneficiary in past
• - in recent years however because of foreign
  debt concerns little use
• made of funds

6
EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND (ERDF)

• PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR
• PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT  
• CREATION OR MODERNISATION OF INFRASTRUCTURES
  ESSENTIAL TO DEVELOPMENT OR CONVERSION OF
  REGIONS, FRONTIER REGIONS OR PARTS OF REGIONS
  INCLUDING EMPLOYMENT AREAS AND URBAN COMMUNITIES
   
• MEASURES TO EXPLOIT THE POTENTIAL FOR INTERNALLY
  GENERATED DEVELOPMENT FOR THE REGIONS FRONTIER
  REGIONS OR PARTSD OF REGIONS AND URBAN
  COMMUNITIES  
• STUDIES OR PILOT SCHEMES CONCERNING PHYSICAL
  PLANNING AT COMMUNITY LEVEL, ESPECIALLY WHERE
  FRONTIER AREAS ARE INVOLVED

7
EVOLUTION OF REGIONAL FUND

• 1st FUND 1975-79
• - Money allocated to countries on basis of fixed
  national quotas supplementing existing
• national regional quotas
•   2nd FUND 1979-84
• TWO SECTIONS TO FUND
• Quota (supplementing national measures)
• Non-quota (community policies) dealing with
• - problems due to community decisions in other
  fields - changing world circumstances (e.g.
  steel and textiles) - frontier regions  
• 3rd FUND 1985
• MONEY CONCENTRATED MUCH MORE IN POORER
  AREAS WITH QUOTA/NON-QUOTA SECTIONS ABOLISHED
• - Upper and lower limits for each country set -
  Larger role for programming finance (20 of
  total) - more emphasis on internally generated
  development - ERDF limited to financing
  proportion of projects and programmes (50-55)
•  

8
PRESENT REGIONAL POLICY

• Though the EU overall is a rich area there are
  striking differences of income and opportunity as
  between its richest and poorest regions (with the
  10 most dynamic having an income in excess of 3
  times the 10 least developed regions)
• EU policy based on solidarity and cohesion
• Causes of inequality - geographic remoteness,
  political systems, economic and social change
  shows up in low incomes, poor education, lack of
  infrastructure and high unemployment
• Structural Funds
• There are 4 Structural Funds available
• - European Regional Development Fund
• - European Social Fund
• - Section of Agricultural Fund devoted to
  Regional Development
• - Financial support for fishing communities

9
STRUCTURAL AND COHESION FUNDS

• Total value of these funds comes to 213 billion
  from 2000-2006 (1/3 of total expenditure)
• A further 18 billion goes to the Cohesion Fund
  set up in 1993 to help Spain, Ireland, Portugal
  and Greece prepare for EMU (which is devoted to
  transport and environmental projects).  
• Of Structural Funds 70 goes to Objective 1
  Regions (where income is less than 75 of
  community average largely for assisting
  infrastructure and business investment). Another
  11.5 goes to Objective 2 Regions (experiencing
  economic decline because of structural
  difficulties). Objective 3 concentrates on job
  creation initiatives in regions not covered under
  the other two headings (12.3 of Funding).  
• There are also four special initiatives
• - Cross Border and inter-regional cooperation
  (Interreg 3)
• - Sustainable development of cities and
  declining rural areas (Urban 2)
• - Rural development through local initiatives
  (Leader Program)
• - Combating inequalities with respect to labour
  market (Equal)  

10
OTHER INITIATIVES AND STRUCTURES

• There are also special initiatives for the newer
  countries (worth about 22 billion)
• - ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for
  pre-accession) with a budget of 7.28 billion.
• - Sapard (Special accession program for rural
  development) with a budget of 3.64 billion.
• - Phare programmes (financing investment and
  institutional development in new members (10
  billion (approx) An additional 22 billion set
  aside (for 2004 2006).    
• Institutional Structures
• Responsibility now shared between a number of
  Institutions
• - Council of the European Union
• - European Parliament (Committee on Regional
  Policy)
• - Committee of the Regions (set up by Maastricht
  Treaty 1992)
• - European Investment Bank providing loan
  finance for investment projects