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Vote: 5th cohesion report and strategy for the post-2013 cohesion policy, text as a whole, 5 July 2011.
The EU's regional policy is an instrument for reducing the social and economic differences between Member States and their regions and cities. Its aim is to support job creation, competitiveness, economic growth, quality of life and sustainable development. The policy covers all EU regions, but most financial support goes to the poorest ones.
The EU wants to become more competitive in the global marketplace, but factors like urban decay and a decreasing rural population are making this difficult. The European Commission argues that in order to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth it needs to make better use of the potential of EU regions. For this, adequate funding is needed.
The EU's financial contribution to regional development, which amounts to approximately one third of the EU's annual budget, is in addition to what the Member States themselves are doing. Even so, many MEPs believe that the EU's added value in this policy area should be defined more clearly.
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Regional development benefits the EU as a whole. It leads to more trade, higher economic growth and new jobs. Strong regions and cities can help the EU tackle the major challenges it faces, such as demographic change, the economic crisis and global warming. The EU is based on the principle of solidarity. Wealthy EU Member States have a moral duty to help poorer ones. |
It is not the EU's role to pay for the development of regions. This should be done by Member States themselves. There are many problems with the current system of regional funding. Too much money is wasted through fraud and inefficiency. The EU's regional policy has had mixed results in the past. It is not clear that more money will lead to better outcomes. |
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