Suchergebnisse

During the programming period 2007-2013 the Cohesion Policy of EU has adopted and implemented the policy of territorial co-operation between EU Member States but also between EU and third countries. In this framework, the EU co-finances (through the European Regional Development Fund, the pre-accession instrument and the instrument of European neighbourhood policy) a series of cross-border, interregional and transnational co-operation programmes in the Mediterranean Basin. These are programs with economic, political, social and environmental objectives. Specifically, in this area bilateral cross-border co-operation programmes among all EU Mediterranean countries, multinational interregional co-operation programmes (IPA Adriatic, MED ENPI CBC) and transnational co-operation on territorial cohesion of Macro-regions (Programme Med) are implemented. All EU Mediterranean countries and most of the countries of North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean Sea are eligible to the mentioned programmes. The aim of this study is to conduct an interim evaluation of these programs and make suggestions for the new programming period for Cohesion Policy 2014-2020. After the presentation of the theoretical foundation of territorial cooperation we describe the framework and objectives of EU policy of territorial cooperation in the Mediterranean Macro-region as well as the multilateral and transnational cross border cooperation programmes. In a further step we summarize the main achievements and failures of the territorial cooperation programmes in the Mediterranean. We conclude that there are important differences in the path of implementation of the programmes due to many factors like the experience of the partner countries in planning methods and cooperation schemes, the existence (or not) of cooperation structures and clusters, the source of funds (e.g. ERDF, IPA, ENPI, national co-financing), bureaucracy, the culture of cooperation and in some cases political disputes. The evaluation of other aspects like the organization and management of the programmes, the eligibility of expenditure and the approval process of the projects, the monitoring and implementation procedures, the thematic and geographical allocation of the approved projects, highlight many problems that should be solved in the next programming period 2014-2020, in order to improve the effectiveness of the European Territorial cooperation in the Mediterranean Basin and promote economic, social, spatial and environmental cohesion of this macro-region.

Since the beginning of 2010, European Commission has launched the new strategic framework for Europe, which is now known as the "Europe 2020 Strategy". This new strategy has been set as the successor of the so called "Lisbon-Gothenburg Strategy" which was set in early '00 as the strategy for Europe in the 21st century. Actually the two strategies have a lot in common. The main driving forces of Europe still remain the same and some rearrangement in the EU-wide strategic targets has been made. Of course the economic crisis that has emerged forced for a new priority that was set in the "EU 2020" strategy, but the main targeting still encompasses the three corners of the well known sustainability triangle, namely economy, environment and society. The setting of a new strategy arises some questions. Why does Europe need a new development strategy? Was the old strategy successful or not? Was every country in Europe adapted in the old strategy properly? Where there any problems in the implementation of the old strategy? What was the overall outcome of the old strategy in EU Level, in each Member State and in the regions of Europe? Is the new strategy better adjusted to cope with the development problems in European, national and regional level? Furthermore, European Commission has already asked MS to comply with the specifications of the "Europe 2020 Strategy" in the planning and implementation of the Cohesion Policy's programs in the following years (for the remaining of the 2007 - 2013 period and especially for the 2014-2020 period). This article discusses the above questions and tries to find answers on the rationale and prospects of the new strategy. Also, in a second step we give more emphasis in Greece and Greek Regions that have been not well adapted in the "Lisbon Strategy" as shown in the recent 5th Cohesion Report and other studies. Finally, the article closes with policy recommendations regarding the consistency and interaction between the "Europe 2020 Strategy" and Cohesion Policy, and also some policy recommendations for Greek regional policy and Greek regions.