ESPON Selected Results of Final Report Luxembourg, May 2005 Sabine Zillmer, IRS

Limits of the Undertaken Research Quantitative Impact Assessment  low level of pre-accession aid interventions  limited allocation of pre-accession aid to regional level  other than primarily territorial objectives of pre-accession aid  time lags of impacts Qualitative Impact Assessment  many unfinished projects vs. lack of contact persons  limited comparability of case studies (different foci: time, themes, levels)  varying quality of case studies Ex-ante Analysis – no regionalised information  Recommendations are not based on proved quantitative relations but are deducted from different methodological steps and causal relations

Policy Package Options MEGAs: infrastructure linkages at different levels; innovation; sector & business structure Western Border Regions: human resources; innovation; cross-border integration Old Industrial Regions: business restructuring; human resources; infrastructure modernisation; environment Eastern Peripheral & Rural Regions: economic diversification (SMEs); institution building; human resources…

Policy Package Options on Basis of Cluster Analysis Labour market: HCI, Active population density, unemployment rate Innovation potential: Share of R&D employment in active population Regional market & geographic position: GDP per capita in PPS, Multimodal accessibility potential Urbanisation & localisation advantages: share of agricultural and of tertiary employment in total employment, settlement structure Institutional potential: Bertelsmann Statusindex

Policy Recommendations Related to the Macro Level Aiming at macro level cohesion – Balanced support to prosperous regions in new Member States to enhance productivity (& snowball effects in long run) while realising investment related transfers to avoid desillusion of peripheral regions MEGAs  strengthen them to become stronger (weak/potential)  are of major importance for convergence and competitiveness  macro level accessibility also including hinterland for snowball effects (transport & telecommunication)  'high road' economic restructuring, e.g. business & innovation centres, investment support schemes  support to international R&D (networking)

Macro Level – Past Performance in Relation to Pre- Accession Aid Spending

Policy Recommendations Related to the Meso Level Institutional Conditions – strengthening of institutional capacities for optimal utilisation of interventions in terms of territorial impacts, especially with regard to coordination and partnership building & increasing absorption capacity Coordination of Sector Policies – as many reveal strong territorial dimension, which could be conflicting with each other & especially with structural policies (setting of clear spatial priorities) Western Border, Centrally Located Rural & Old Industrial Regions – build upon existing links to neighbouring agglomerations and past positions  human resource development in regional centres  spatial integration measures …

Meso Level – Ex-ante Assessment for Selected Types of Regions …

Support to Policy Option Selection Policy Options "Checklist" – Questions with regard to the following themes:  Institutional capacity  Territorial development objectives  Spatial levels addressed  Identification of needs of relevant spatial levels  Thematic scope of interventions

Gaps and Further Research Issues Gaps  Data, data, data…  limited extend of analysis of the 'Acquis' Further Research Issues  Continuation of impact assessment  Adoption of Structural Funds in the new Member States  Flow analysis for transnational and cross-border impact assessment  Future development perspectives of the CEECs, Malta and Cyprus in the light of the Lisbon strategy  Further development and specification of territorial objectives in particular with regard to CEECs  …