In the context of the publication of
Agenda 2000 and the accelerated progress of the Irish economy from 1993, the Republic of Ireland's
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Hereinafter the terms “Ireland” and “Irish” will be used as a ...shorthand for the Republic of Ireland.
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position in relation to Structural Fund transfers generally, and qualification for Objective 1 status specifically, has undergone substantial revision since 1997. Against this backdrop, Ireland lodged a formal application with
Eurostat in November 1998 to divide the country into two regions, one which would continue to qualify for Objective 1 funds, the other qualifying only for “Objective 1 in transition” status. This “regionalisation” strategy proved to generate substantial controversy both within and between the European Union (EU), the Irish government, and existing regional and local authorities and development agencies. These controversies were rooted in the need to transform the highly centralist scale division of the Irish state. At one level, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the significance of these conflicts in the light of recent debate in political geography regarding the conditions which serve to ground the EU's broader philosophy of a
Europe of the Regions in particular ways, in particular places, at particular times. More generally, however, in respect to both its chosen methodology and findings, the paper hopes to contribute to the development of a
process based approach to the contemporary (re)scaling of governance.
The question of how to achieve greater levels of sustainable development is intrinsically linked with the discussion concerning new forms of governance. Structural funds have become most influential ...in promoting sustainable development and appropriate forms of governance across the EU. They have been very important in introducing new innovative forms of co-ordination in many countries and have encouraged the mobilization of new political actors. Structural Funds can be considered as a most interesting laboratory for the development of new governance patterns, which are urgently needed for coping with accelerated change and increasing complexity. Multi-level governance in the spirit of subsidiarity will not be possible without flexible objective-oriented management approaches instead of the rigid attribution of competences. This requires new conceptual approaches, procedures, and instruments. 'SQM-Sustainable Quality Management®' is a coherent system for the conception, support, monitoring and evaluation of sustainable development processes. A series of pilot projects in the last five years have shown its potential and utility. The SQM system includes concepts, methods and operational tools that have proved to be applicable and comprehensible in different European cultures. Internet-based SQM software tools support every step in the policy cycle. Sustainable development is conceived as an overarching principle that governs the management of processes and covers all policy principles postulated by the EU. In the use of a common framework over the whole policy cycle and the coherent implementation of basic principles there is the promise of achieving better orientation towards sustainable development and considerable efficiency gains.
Si la politique régionale de l’Union européenne et ses effets aux niveaux international et interrégional ont fait l’objet de nombreux travaux de sciences sociales en général et de géographie en ...particulier, sa mise en œuvre aux échelons inférieurs reste peu explorée. L’objet de cet article est de montrer en quoi cette politique s’est intégrée en Nord-Pas-de-Calais dans le processus de construction d’une stratégie partenariale d’aménagement et de développement du territoire régional, dont le but est d’articuler des actions d’inspiration et de conception très diverses. Cela s’est traduit par une spécialisation – plutôt que par une concentration – géographique de l’intervention des fonds structurels communautaires. Cette spécialisation a été obtenue par la conjonction de trois éléments : un zonage infrarégional associant aux zones les plus en difficulté les zones stratégiques d’un point de vue régional ; des programmes de financement pluriannuels ajustés périodiquement pour intégrer autant que possible les leitmotive communautaires (innovation, compétitivité, environnement) dans les priorités régionales et locales ; enfin, une mobilisation différenciée des territoires, qui reflète non seulement la nature de leurs problèmes, mais aussi leur degré de maîtrise des procédures de l’intervention communautaire.
Ten countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region joined the European Union in 2004. Two more new members from southeast Europe (Bulgaria and Romania) joined in January 2007. ...Given the diverse range of political, economic, social, and cultural contexts of these nations, EU enlargement and integration processes have entered a new phase of complexity. In this article, I analyze the cultural policy developments in eight of the new EU member states (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia), examine in detail state and nonstate cultural funding patterns, and assess the influence of EU policy-especially with regard to the Culture Program, Structural Funds, and European cultural cooperation initiatives-for its impact on cultural policy development in the new member states. Next, I discuss the new forms of pan-European cultural cooperation, focusing on the development of networks, foundation initiatives, and observatories. Finally, I explore issues in development of cultural policy in the new member states and conclude with recommendations for the future of the enlarged EU.
Inequities and inefficiencies in development aid arise from donor–recipient motivational conflicts, agency problems, and institutional deficiencies. Recent thinking on reforming official aid ...recommends technocratic solutions including recipient ownership, selectivity, budgetary grants, and multilateralization of aid management. Locating persistent policy failure in Africa primarily in its political institutions, this paper explores three alternative models of multilateral aid for reconciling need and effectiveness. They are the European Union's (EU's) model of regional aid, the International Development Association's (IDA's) model of concessional loans, and a synthesis model (S-model). Implications are drawn for redesigning aid to Africa that would adequately account for the peculiarities of the world's most prominent development challenge.
Spatial Distribution of EU Structural Funds in Poland in 2004-2006 - Factors, Directions, and Limitations In 2004, Poland joined the European Union. This access means the possibility of taking ...advantage of European Union Structural Funds. Apart from this the structural funds play another important role. The popularity of the idea of European integration in countries like Poland depends largely on the effectiveness of this financial support, which theoretically should lead to economic and social development on different levels (local, regional, national, and even continental). The main problem of relying on EU funds is their unequal availability, which is limited, for example, because of the granting principles. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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