Critically review and discuss the pressures that have emerged from the recent enlargement rounds for the reforms of the EU structural policy.

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Critically review and discuss the pressures that have emerged from the recent enlargement rounds for the reforms of the EU structural policy.

The creation of the European Union was to form a group of nation states who would forge close economic, political and social interests together. However, with this in mind, the idea of a EU can only really be considered feasible if the member states are able to maintain a sufficient level of economic and social cohesion. (Hannequart:1992:p1)

As such, the Structural Policy was created with the intentions of lessening the gap in economic development and standards of living between member states. Furthermore, the European Social Fund measures other cohesion policies which were then introduced over the years, each with a specific aim. The European Community created the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund to help financially support the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Regional Development Fund and the . (Hannequart:1992:p1)

In this essay I will be discussing  the European Unions Structural Policy and the reasons behind why it was set up. Moving on from this I will look at the Funds available to member states of the EU, for example the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. I will also discuss the EU’s three objectives of the Structural Policy.

In the  second part of my essay, I will look at how enlargement has posed a severe challenge for the EU structural and cohesion policies, before assessing how the European Union has prepared itself for this through its set up of Agenda 2000. Finally, I will assess whether Agenda 2000 and the reforms set up by the EU have been a success in reforming the EU structural policy from enlargement. By the end of this essay it should be evident that enlargement has expanded the scale of disparities between member states. The accession of Central and Eastern European Countries has widened the gap between the richer and poorer states in the EU. The sheer diversity across the enlarged EU has raised corresponding challenges for the EU to reform the Structural Policy. Agenda 2000 did prepare the EU for enlargement, perhaps now that enlargement has occurred a re think of Structural Policy and its operation should happen.

Alongside the Structural Funds, a  has likewise existed since 1993. It finances transport and environment infrastructure in the Member States whose gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is less than 90% of the Union average there were previously when it was first created  four member states who were in this category; Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal.

Today however, with the accession of Central and Eastern European Countries, currently, Portugal, Spain, Greece ,Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are all eligible, thus placing a big strain on this fund.

The Single European Act in 1987 introduced the concept of Social Cohesion and since the Treaty of Maastricht it has become one of the EU’s three pillars. Cohesion is still a priority today, and this is reflected in the budget, because structural policy is the second most heavily funded sector in the Union after the Common Agricultural Policy. (Hannequart:1992:p1)

The European Unions structural policy umbrella’s the four structural funds and the one cohesion fund. Its two main purposes are; to support the poorest of EU regions and secondly, to support the integration European infrastructure in particular transport. The current Structural programme started in 2007 and is anticipated to end December 2013, and is estimated to have spent 195 billion Euros for the structural funds and 20 billion Euros for the Cohesion fund; using 35.7% of the total Unions budget.(Warleigh:2003:p103)

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The European Regional Development Fund is under the EU’s structural policy and  was created to reduce regional imbalances in the EU. This fund, grants financial assistance to the development of the less favoured regions. In terms of financial resources, the ERDF is by far the most important Structural Fund. (Hannequart:1992:p78)

The European Social Fund is the Community's primary social policy instrument. It funds training, vocational retraining and job creation measures. The emphasis will henceforth be put on improving the way labour markets operate and on getting the unemployed back into jobs. It contributes to all three Objectives ...

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