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Abstract
At a time of major political and economic turbulence for the EU, the European institutions
and Member States are seeking to agree the financial and policy priorities for the 2007-2013
period. Although the June 2005 budgetary negotiations foundered on disagreement over the
UK rebate and EU agricultural spending, considerable progress was made in developing a
possible financial framework for Cohesion policy that would reconcile the views of the EU
Member States. A series of ‘negotiating boxes’ put forward by the Luxembourg Presidency
over the April-June period had systematically adapted budgetary ceilings, eligibility criteria
and the financial allocation methodology to take account of the various national interests.
In parallel with the budgetary negotiations, the Structural Affairs Working Group has been
discussing the content of the future Regulations for EU Cohesion policy. While less
contentious than the financial debate, it is evident that there are also important
differences among Member States, particularly with respect to the role of the Community
Strategic Guidelines and National Strategic Reference Frameworks, the scope of the
proposed thematic priorities and eligible expenditure to meet regional and local needs, and
the degree to which simplification will be achieved in practice.
This paper reviews and assesses the recent debate on the reform of EU Cohesion policy. It
charts the progress of the budgetary negotiations and assesses the implications for
eligibility and financial allocations under the Structural and Cohesion Funds. The paper also
examines how the regulatory debate is evolving, identifying the points of agreement and
argument, and it considers how Member States preparations for the next programming
period are developing with respect to strategic planning and programming.
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