European Commission Proposal for a Council Decision on Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion, 2007-2013
Brussels 13-07-2006
From 1 January 2007, a new programming round for the Structural Funds will begin for 27 Member States (including Romania and Bulgaria). The new framework for "cohesion" seeks improvements in two main areas. First, the strategic dimension of cohesion policy is strengthened to ensure that Community priorities are better integrated into national, regional, and local development programmes. Second, efforts are reinforced to ensure greater ownership of cohesion policy on the ground. This European Commission proposal sets out the guidelines for implementing the cohesion measures and funding allocations. It will be debated by the European Parliament and the Council during the remainder of 2006.
| Section | Page |
|---|---|
| 1. INTRODUCTION | 2 |
| 2. COHESION, GROWTH, JOBS 2.1. The renewed Lisbon agenda |
4 |
| 2.2. The contribution of cohesion policy to growth and jobs | 5 |
| 3. THE FRAMEWORK FOR COHESION POLICY 2007-2013 3.1. Concentration |
6 |
| 3.2. Convergence | 8 |
| 3.3. Regional competitiveness and employment | 9 |
| EN 10 EN 3.4. European territorial cooperation |
10 |
| 3.5. Governance | 10 |
| 4. GUIDELINES FOR COHESION POLICY, 2007-2013 | 12 |
| 4.1. GUIDELINE: Making Europe and its regions more attractive places to invest and work | 14 |
| 4.1.1. Expand and improve transport infrastructures | 14 |
| 4.1.2. Strengthen the synergies between environmental protection and growth | 17 |
| 4.1.3. Address Europe's intensive use of traditional energy sources | 18 |
| 4.2. GUIDELINE: Improving knowledge and innovation for growth | 18 |
| 4.2.1. Increase and better target investment in RTD | 20 |
| 4.2.2. Facilitate innovation and promote entrepreneurship | 21 |
| 4.2.3. Promote the information society for all | 23 |
| 4.2.4. Improve access to finance | 24 |
| 4.3. GUIDELINE : More and better jobs | 25 |
| 4.3.1. Attract and retain more people in employment and modernise social protection systems | 26 |
| 4.3.2. Improve adaptability of workers and enterprises and the flexibility of the labour market | 28 |
| 4.3.3. Increase investment in human capital through better education and skills | 29 |
| 4.3.4. Administrative Capacity | 30 |
| 4.3.5. Help maintain a healthy labour force | 31 |
| 5. THE TERRITORIAL DIMENSION OF COHESION POLICY | 32 |
| 5.1. The contribution of cities to growth and jobs | 33 |
| 5.2. Support the economic diversification of rural areas, fisheries areas and areas with natural handicaps | 34 |
| 5.3. Cooperation | 36 |
| 5.4. Cross-border cooperation | 36 |
| 5.5. Transnational cooperation | 37 |
| 5.6. Interregional cooperation | 37 |
| Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on Community strategic guidelines on cohesion | 38 |
| ANNEX | 42-65 |
Links
European Commission Cohesion Strategy site The European Commission's proposal for the Cohesion Guidelines 2007-2013 is available on this page, for downloading, in 19 languages.
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- EC Cohesion Guidelines 2007 - 2013 (English) - PDF document; opens in new window. - Filesize: 422Kb