European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is a fund allocated by the European Union.
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[edit] History
During the 1960s, the European Commission occasionally tried to establish a regional fund. Only Italy ever supported this, however, and nothing came of it.[1] Britain made it an issue for their accession in 1973, and pushed for its creation at the 1972 summit in Paris. Britain was going to be a large contributor to the CAP and the EEC budget, and sought to offset this deficit by having the ERDF established. They would then be able to show their public some tangible benefits of EEC membership.[2] The ERDF was set to be running by 1973, but the 1973 oil crisis delayed it,[3] and it was only established in 1975 under considerable Irish and Italian pressure.
It started with a budget of 1.4 billion units of account, much smaller than the original British proposal of 2.4 billion units of account, but has increased rapidly both proportionally and absolutely in the course of time. Since its creation, it has operated under changing set of rules that were standardized with Single European Act and is now in its 2007-2013 period.
[edit] Scope (2007-2013)
As part of its task to promote regional development, the ERDF contributes towards financing the following measures:
Objective "Convergence"
- modernising / diversifying economic structures;
- creating sustainable jobs;
- stimulating economic growth;
- attention to areas with specific characteristics: urban, remote, mountainous, sparsely populated and the outermost regions.
Objective "Regional competitiveness & employment"
- innovation and knowledge economy (research & technological development, innovation & entrepreneurship, financial engineering);
- environment and risk prevention (cleaning up polluted areas, energy efficiency, clean urban public transport, risk prevention plans);
- access to transport and telecommunications.
Objective "Territorial cooperation"
- cross-border economic and social and environmental activities;
- transnational cooperation (including bilateral cooperation between maritime regions);
- interregional cooperation (including networking and exchange of experiences between regional and local authorities).
[edit] See also
- Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds
- European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation
- INTERREG IV A Greater Region
- Operational Programme Italy - Maritime France 2007 - 2013
- ENPI Italy-Tunisia CBC Programme
- Greece - Bulgaria European Territorial Cooperation Programme
[edit] References
- ^ .George, Stephen (1990). An Awkward Partner: Britain in the European Community. Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-19-827563-3.
- ^ .George, Stephen (1990). An Awkward Partner: Britain in the European Community. Oxford University Press. pp. 56-57. ISBN 0-19-827563-3.
- ^ .George, Stephen (1990). An Awkward Partner: Britain in the European Community. Oxford University Press. p. 67. ISBN 0-19-827563-3.
[edit] External links
- North Sea Region Programme Transnational Cooperation Programme under the ERDF
- Baltic Sea Region Programme Transnational Cooperation Programme under the ERDF
- Alpine Space Programme Transnational Cooperation Programme under the ERDF
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