New Trends in Cohesion Policy Grincoh, Ljubljana 25 September 2014 Veronica Gaffey DG Regional & Urban Policy

Where are we now? New Legal Framework agreed in December programmes being negotiated (3 approved) programmes still running until end 2015 New Commission takes office in November 2014 Mid-term review of EU2020 underway Cohesion Policy

Main Elements of the Reform Result orientation: specific objectives, result indicators, baselines, targets Thematic Concentration Alignment with EU2020 and European Semester process (Country Specific Recommendations) Ex ante conditionalities – focus on the appropriate conditions for investment Stronger monitoring, evaluation & reporting requirements with debate on performance - national/EU Cohesion Policy

Cohesion Policy Programmes in Context – not a world on its own They influence and are influenced by context: Macro-economic conditions Institutional Factors Regulatory Context Coherence with other policies Cohesion Policy

Cohesion Policy's growing share of total public investment Cohesion Policy

Especially in EU-12 Cohesion Policy

Governance Poor governance slows down Cohesion Policy implementation, reduces its impact and hinders economic growth and entrepreneurship Chapter 5 Cohesion Policy

Cohesion Policy Resources Available in CEECs (€) Poland77,567,000 Romania22,993,800 Czech Republic21,982,900 Hungary21,905,900 Slovakia13,991,700 Bulgaria7,588,400 Lithuania6,823,100 Latvia4,511,800 Estonia3,590,000 Slovenia3,074,800 Total184,029,400 Cohesion Policy

Absorption /2014 Lithuania82%3rd Estonia81%4th Poland72%10th Latvia70%12th Slovenia61%20th Hungary61%21st Czech Republic54%23rd Bulgaria53%25th Slovakia48%26th Romania38%27th Cohesion Policy

Impression of proposals for Cohesion Policy Programmes Too many and unclear objectives Intervention logic not always clear – why spending resources on certain actions will bring about change in the result indicator Unconvincing areas of intervention: tourism & culture, sports facilities, research infrastructure as innovation, the real objectives of urban development strategies Progress being made, but how far will we get?... Cohesion Policy

Challenges Developing strategies for growth and concentrating Cohesion Policy resources on these Implement, monitor, evaluate, debate Complementing investment strategies with necessary regulatory and institutional reforms Shift from an input/absorption focus to one which focuses on what is achieved – a broader definition of accountability Academics and other stakeholders should demand evidence and change from public authorities Cohesion Policy

Final Question To what extent can your findings be translated into the programmes currently being negotiated? We can't afford to waste the €184 billion Cohesion Policy