KEY FACTS ON STRUCTURAL FUNDS

• The Structural Funds aim to promote a better economic and social benefits balance across the European Union and to reduce regional disparities, by co-financing with Member States development actions in their regions.

  Chart 1: Population covered by regional Objectives from 94 to 99 (10kb)

• For the 1994-1999 period the Structural Funds allocation has risen to ECU 157 billion. By 1999 a total sum of more than ECU 230 billion will have been invested by the Structural Funds over a period of 10 years.

• The amount allocated to Structural Funds from the Union's budget increased for 17.5 per cent in 1988 to nearly 36 per cent in 1999.

WHAT ARE STRUCTURAL FUNDS?

Chart 2 (17kb)

HOW DO STRUCTURAL FUNDS WORK?

Chart 3 (10kb)

STRUCTURAL FUNDS: a vehicle for change

• Assistance from the Structural Funds rose to ECU 80 billion for the period 1989-1993, allowing significant progress to be made in many sectors (infrastructure, industrial reconversion, urban and rural development, education and training). Some examples:
  • transport: construction and/or renovation of roads (17 per cent of the primary road network in Ireland, 6,100km in Spain, 5,500km in Portugal)

  • Telecommunications: installation of 552,000 lines in Spain (1989-1993) and 384,000 lines in Greece (in 1992).

• It is estimated that be 1999, 600,000 jobs in Objective 1 regions will be the direct result of the Structural Funds.

• Likewise, for every ECU 100 that an eligible region receives directly, other regions benefit indirectly by ECU 25 to 45.

Table 1: Breakdown of Structural Funds by Member States 1993-1999 (7kb)

The Community Initiatives

These programmes tackle specific problems with European dimension. The areas of intervention for the current period are:

• INTERREG II
  Crossborder co-operation (Part A), energy netorks (Part B), co-operation in the area of regional planning, in particular management of water supply (Part C);

• LEADER II
  Rural development;

• REGIS II
  Integration of the most remote regions;

• EMPLOYMENT: NOW for women;
  HORIZON for disbaled people;
  YOUTHSTART for young people;
  INTEGRA for people threatened with social exclusion;

• ADAPT
  Adaptation of the workforce to industrial change;

• RECHAR II
  Conversion of coal-mining areas;

• RESIDER II
  Conversion of steel areas;

• KONVER
  Economic diversification in regions heavily dependent on the defence sector;

• RETEX
  Economic diversification in areas heavily dependent on the textile and clothing industry;

• SME
  Strengthening of the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises;

• URBAN
  Regeneration of crisis-struck areas in medium-sized and large towns;

• PESCA
  Economic diversification in areas heavily dependent on the fisheries sector.

Table 2: GDP per head in Member States 1983, 1988 and 1993 (16kb)

Table 3: GDP per head by Member State and regional extremes, 1993 (17kb)

Table 4: Unemployment rates by Member State and regional extremes 1995 (14kb)


Map 1 - Unemployment rates by region, 1995 - Full Screen version (94Kb)