Regional Development

Reducing the social and economic disparities among the regions has always been an EU objective—one that has new relevance in the preparations for EU enlargement toward Central and Eastern Europe (see Chapter Six). A Cohesion Fund was set up by the Maastricht Treaty to reduce economic disparities among the EU and Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Ireland. Cohesion funding for the four eligible EU member states is $16.6 billion for the period 2000-2006.

The four Structural Funds benefit all the member states and consist of three older funds set up in the 1970s—the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the Guidance section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)—plus the newer Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG). These funds cofinance projects in areas affected by economic distress or industrial decline. Funding for the period 2000-2006 is $179 billion.

ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession Programs) was created to assist the applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe with investment projects in transport and the environment. For each year during the period 2000-2006, $920 million is budgeted.

Research and Technological Development (R&TD)

A real "European area of research" is beginning to take shape on the European continent, fueled in large part by the accomplishments of the Research and Technological Development (R&TD) framework programs that have been in place since the early 1980s. Formally designated by the Maastricht Treaty as the EU's main R&TD instrument, the framework programs set out the Union's principal scientific and technological objectives. These programs aim to promote cooperation among partners in different countries by funding transnational work and promoting coordination among scientific and technological facilities.

Proposals for the $16.1 billion Sixth Framework Program (2003-2006) constitute part of the European Research Area initiative and represent a deliberate break with past programs in

terms of ambition, scope, and implementing instruments. The idea is to achieve greater focus on questions of European importance and a better integration of research efforts based on an enhanced partnership among European researchers. This latest program also provides for independent research in the nuclear field as well as comparable efforts to be undertaken by the Joint Research Center (JRC).

The Joint Research Center, the EU's scientific and technical research laboratory, is an integral part of the European Commission. It provides the scientific advice and technical know-how to support EU policies. Yet another of the framework programs supports the JRC's efforts in the areas of food safety and health, environment and sustainable development, technology foresight, metrology, combating fraud, monitoring/prediction of natural disasters, and data security.

The Fifth Framework Program (1998 to 2002) concentrated on research in four main areas:

quality of life and living resources; the information society; competitive and sustainable growth; and preserving the ecosystem. The Fifth Framework Program was also open to the EU membership candidates.

The original Community's involvement in R&TD was once confined to coal, steel, and nuclear energy. The Single European Act of 1986 provided specific legal powers in this field that has become crucial to the Union's industrial competitiveness. The Union participates in EUREKA, a Europe-wide venture aimed at developing new high-tech products in response to market demand.

The EU also cooperates with its European neighbors, as well as with the United States and Japan, on a variety of other R&TD projects. The EU-US Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation was signed in December 1997. An implementation agreement covering scientific co-operation between the US and the EU in the field of environmental research was forged in 2001.

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