The EU Structural Funds, The 2007-2013
Italian National Strategic Reference
Framework (NSRF) and the Proposals for
Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
Local and Global Development
Regional Economic Policies
2014/2015
Professor Cristina Brasili
1
Key Objectives
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) ,
the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund
support the achievement of three objectives «Convergence», «Regional Competitiveness and
Employment» and «European Territorial Cooperation».
The rationale of the Convergence objective is to promote
growth-enhancing conditions and factors leading to real
convergence for the least-developed Member States and regions.
In EU-27, this objective concerns – within 18 Member States – 84
regions with a total population of 154 million, and per capita GDP
at less than 75 % of the Community average, and – on a “phasingout” basis – another 16 regions with a total of 16.4 million
inhabitants and a GDP only slightly above the threshold, due to the
statistical effect of the larger EU.
2
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/atlas2007/index_en.htm
•Convergence Regions
•Phasing-out Regions
•Phasing-in Regions
•Competitiveness and Employment Regions
3
Outside the Convergence regions, the Regional
Competitiveness and Employment objective aims at
strengthening competitiveness and attractiveness, as well as
employment, through a two-fold approach.
First, development programmes will help regions to anticipate
and promote economic change through innovation and the
promotion of the knowledge society, entrepreneurship, the
protection of the environment, and the improvement of their
accessibility.
Second, more and better jobs will be supported by adapting
the workforce and by investing in human resources. In EU-27,
a total of 168 regions will be eligible, representing 314 million
inhabitants. Within these, 13 regions which are home to a
total of 19 million inhabitants represent so-called “phasing-in”
areas and are subject to special financial allocations due to
their former status as “Objective 1” regions.
4
The European Territorial Co-operation objective will
strengthen cross-border co-operation through joint local and
regional initiatives, trans-national co-operation aiming at
integrated territorial development, and interregional cooperation and exchange of experience.
The population living in cross-border areas amounts to 181.7
million (37.5% of the total EU population), whereas all EU
regions and citizens are covered by one of the existing 13
transnational co-operation areas. EUR 8.7 billion (2.5% of
the total) available for this objective is split as follows: EUR
6.44 billion for cross-border, EUR 1.83 billion for
transnational and EUR 445 million for inter-regional cooperation.
This objective is based on the experience drawn from the
former Community initiative – INTERREG.
5
The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)
2007-2013
The NSRF (National Strategic Reference Framework) 2007–2013
constitutes the reference document for the programming of European
Union Funds at national level for the 2007–2013 period. It was
elaborated within the framework of the new strategic approach to the
Cohesion Policy of the European Union, according to which NSRF
“…ensures that the assistance from the Funds is consistent with the
Community strategic guidelines on cohesion and identifies the link
between Community priorities, on the one hand, and the national
reform programme, on the other.” With this aim, Italy elaborated the
National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) to distribute
the resources allocated to our country by the EU cohesion policy,
reaching out the South as well as North-Centre regions.
The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)
contains
Introduction
The process of elaboration of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)
2007-2013
I CONTEXT: COMPETITIVENESS GAP AND DEVELOPMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
II REGIONAL POLICY: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE
III OBJECTIVES AND PRIORITIES
IV OPERATIVES PROGRAMES BY GEOGRAPHIC MACRO-AREA ( Objs.
CONVERGENCE, REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS AND EMPLOYMENT,
EUROPEAN TERRITORIAL COOPERATION)
V FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK
VI IMPLEMENTATION
APPENDIX: INDICATORS AND TARGETS OF THE 2007-2013 REGIONAL POLICY
Let’s have a look at the CONTEXT...................
THE ITALIAN NATIONAL STRATEGIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORK (NSRF)
for the regional development policy 2007-2013
Figure 6- Distribution of the GDP per capita in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) in EU
NUTS2 Regions (EU27) – 2003
Italian Regions Obj. CRO and
phasing-in CRO
Italian Regions Obj.
CONV. and
phasing-out CONV
THE ITALIAN NATIONAL STRATEGIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORK (NSRF)
for the regional development policy 2007-2013
Employment rate targets
to be reached by 2010
according to the Lisbon
Strategy and
Employment rates value
for Italy and EU in 2000
and 2005
Women
Female Employment rate
15-64 anni (%)
THE ITALIAN NATIONAL STRATEGIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORK (NSRF)
for the regional development policy 2007-2013
THE REGIONAL POLICY: A SUPPLY-SIDE POLICY
The NSRF departs from the assumption that economic growth is
the result of the availability of abundant factors such as capital
and labour, rather it stresses the fact that growth, and
development more precisely, derives from the cohexistence
of a number of conditions that define the context in which
economic activities take place and economic agents interact
(see the orginal version of the NSRF on page 50)
THE ITALIAN NATIONAL STRATEGIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORK (NSRF)
for the regional development policy 2007-2013
Lessons learnt from the 2000-2006 experience
 The evaluation activities carried out on the 2000-2006 regional
policy aimed to ensure the effective performance of actions cofinanced by the Community Structural Funds: a system implemented
at level of each programme and standardised as for methodologies
procedures, techniques and contents.
 The evaluation analysis carefully examined the implementation and
performance process of 2000-2006 Regional Policy and OPs
programming and revealed both the achievements - at regional and
national levels – as well as the factors had prevented reaching the
prefixed targets.
 The analysis issued a positive evaluation of the general structure
of the regional development policy, praising the fact that it is a
supply-side policy that makes use of evaluation and
monitoring systems, performance-based allocation criteria,
multi-level governance and integrated territorial projects (see
the orginal version of the NSRF on page 52).
One of the most relevant innovation of the Community Support
Framework (CSF) 2000-2006 is the identification and use of the
BREAKTHROUGH VARIABLES
The 1999 “Mezzogiorno” (Southern Italy) Development Plan
(Reg. ce 1260/1999) states that
It is necessary to identify the “break points” with previous
experience and define a limited number of breakthrough variables
on which to act
Those breakthrough variables have been used as intermediate
objectives to be reached by the programmatic actions
12
List of BREAKTHROUGH VARIABLES (I)
13
List of BREAKTHROUGH VARIABLES (II)
14
The 2007-2013 NSRF Approach is structured around 4
macro-objectives and 10 priorities
a) Developing knowledge circuits
Priority 1: Improvement and use of human resources
Priority 2: Promotion, use and dissemination of research and innovation for the
competitiveness
b) Improving living standards, security and social inclusion
Priority 3: Energy and environment: sustainable and efficient use of the resources for
development
Priority 4: Social Inclusion and services for the quality of life and territorial attractiveness
c) Fostering clusters, services and competition
Priority
Priority
Priority
Priority
5:
6:
7:
8:
Use of natural and cultural resources for the attraction and development
Networking and connections for mobility
Competitiveness of production systems and employment
Competitiveness and attractiveness of cities and urban systems
d) Internationalising and modernising the economy
Priority 9: International opening and attraction of investments, consumption and resources
Priority 10: Governance, institutional capacity and competitive and effective markets
15
The Ten Priorities of the NSRF 2007-2013
Priority 1: Improvement and development of human resources
Aimed at promoting the dissemination of high levels of competence, equity of access
and capacity for continuous learning for the population. It promotes the actions that
can trigger the necessary recovery, especially in the South, of the knowledge, skills and
competences of the youth and to integrate or update the competences of the adults.
Priority 2. Promotion, use and dissemination of research and innovation for
the competitiveness
It focuses on the commitment of the unitary regional policy to contribute to bridge the
most evident gap in the country. In this context, the resources must be addressed, with
meritocratical criteria, on the basis of international standards, to the excellences in the
territory; to the triggering and the strengthening of some mechanisms for the
"mediation" between research and the world of business that is capable of evaluating in
terms of innovation and productivity the progresses of national research; to the
transformation of knowledge into productive applications, including strengthening the
role of information technologies as a main factor of innovation.
16
The Ten Priorities of the NSRF 2007-2013
Priority 3: Energy and environment: sustainable and efficient use of the
resources for development
The environmental interventions aim at promoting the technological production chains
and at increasing the availability of energy resources through the saving and the
increase of the rate of energy produced by renewable resources. Will be carried out,
in continuity with the settings done in 2000-2006 period, (and with a precise
identification of the "service objectives" expressed as final the results to be achieved
by 2013, for water services and services of waste management) investments aiming
at the efficient management of the resources and the protection of the territory.
Priority 4. Social inclusion and services for the quality of life and the
territorial attractiveness
It predicts interventions of improvement of the organization, availability and quality of
social services, and actions to prevent and combat the crime, particularly in certain
regions of Southern Italy. They will be conducted with a strong emphasis on the
quality of human resources involved and with a link to the territorial initiatives that
are stronger than the previously experienced ones.
17
The Ten Priorities of the NSRF 2007-2013
Priority 5: Use of natural and cultural resources for the attraction and
development
It focuses on the use of the natural and the cultural assets that may become a
development opportunity for very different territories, by identifying, as a condition of
success of this policy, the realization of projects that are able of activating the chain
of cultural and environmental tourism and the concentration, even in the South Italy,
on the projects of excellence, that are able to use the potentials of big cultural and
natural attractions that are already benefiting from the flows of the international
tourist demand.
Priority 6. Networking and connections for mobility
It specifies the types of actions and conditions under which the regional unitary policy
may contribute to the activities for the mobility and the logistics, on the basis of the
productive demand of the territories of reference, and for the improvement of the
connections among territorial systems and among cities.
18
The Ten Priorities of the NSRF 2007-2013
Priority 7: Competitiveness of production systems and employment
It specifies the objectives and the general methods with which the regional unitary
policy acts in local systems to capture specific opportunities to integrate better the
human resources policies and the economic development policies, in order to open the
territories to external knowledge and actors, and to aggregate the players of the
territory around innovation projects of national importance.
Priority 8. Competitiveness and attractiveness of cities and urban systems
This strategic priority is divided into programs for metropolitan cities, of which must be
evaluated the driving function and the competitive potentials in the over-regional and
international markets; and for inter-municipal territorial systems where the economical
- productive connections or the territorial scale services. This programming will have to
set itself within the institutional, strategic and operational frames, that will ensure an
integrated vision among, on one hand, the urban-territorial planning, the historical,
landscape and environmental system, and on the other hand the economic
development, including the tourism potential, the integration of investments and the
19
effective coordination with the policies and the programs of the sector.
The Ten Priorities of the NSRF 2007-2013
Priority 9: International opening and attraction of investments,
consumption and resources
It is aimed at promoting the conditions of the territorial offer – that comes together
with many of the policies implemented under the other priorities - and the conditions
of governance, that is capable of strengthening the capacity of the country in
attracting resources of quality and in improving the competitive position of Italy
abroad.
Priority 10. Governance, institutional capacity and competitive and
effective markets
The policies expressly aiming at closing the gaps and increasing the quality of the
public services and the skills of the administrations are covered in this priority. The
role of the Public Administration is central (the role of programming and operational
but also of regulation and support) for the way it designs and implements the
measures in a transparent, reliable and credible way, as well as for the activation of
the best competitive conditions for the public goods and services and for the capitals.
20
While in the CSF 2000-2006 the general objective was that of
improving the performance of the breakthrough variables, no specific
target was set. In the NSRF 2007-2013 instead the novelty is that,
bonding targets are set on the final objectives, explicitly expressed in
terms
of
services
provided
to
citizens.
Each objective is measured by indicators, according to which is
set a target. The strategic objectives are four:
 Education : improving students’ competency and learning
abilities of the population
 Child and elderly care: increase the share of beneficiaries of
social assistance (home assistance for the elderly, access to
child care facilities,etc.) to foster the participation of women to
the labour market
 Urban waste management: preserving the environment (better
urban waste management)
 Water service: improving the access to water aand the quality
of the environment (better waste water management and
water distribution)
21
The decision to set one target that is equal
across all regions is motivated by the need to
guarantee the achievement of some minimum
standard in the access to public services
22
List of the 2007-2013 NSRF Indicators, with baseline and
target values for the Mezzogiorno regions
23
24
THE ITALIAN NATIONAL STRATEGIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORK (NSRF)
for the regional development policy 2007-2013
Allocation of Financial Resources by region and sector
25
Convergence and Competitiveness Objectives 2007-13
26
Implementation of the NSRF 2007-2013
The resources allocated to Italy amounted to 25.582.830.238 €
Financial resources for 2007 – 2013 (million euro)
NEW OBJECTIVE 1 – Convergence
Objective 1 (Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sicilia)
18,820
Statistical phasing out (Basilicata)
387
Total
19,207
NEW OBJECTIVE 2 – Regional Competitiveness
and employment
Phasing in (Sardegna)
877
Regional competitiveness and employment (the remaining
Regions and Provinces)
4,749
Total
5,626
NEW OBJECTIVE 3 – European Territorial Cooperation
Total (All the Regions)
750
TOTAL FOR WHOLE ITALY
25,583
27
Future Prospects for Regional Policy and Structural Funds
2014-2020
The European Union has been working hard to move decisively beyond the crisis and
create the conditions for a more competitive economy with higher employment.
The Europe 2020 strategy is about delivering growth that is: smart, through more
effective investments in education, research and innovation; sustainable, thanks to a
decisive move towards a low-carbon economy; and inclusive, with a strong emphasis
on job creation and poverty reduction. The strategy is focused on five ambitious
goals in the areas of employment, innovation, education, poverty reduction and
climate/energy.
To ensure that the Europe 2020 strategy delivers, a strong and effective system of
economic governance has been set up to coordinate policy actions between the EU
and national levels.
28
Future Prospects for Regional Policy and Structural Funds
2014-2020
To measure progress in meeting the Europe 2020 goals, 5 headline targets have
been agreed for the whole EU.
The 5 targets for the EU in 2020
1. Employment
75% of the 20-64 year-olds to be employed
2. R&D
3% of the EU's GDP to be invested in R&D
3. Climate change and energy sustainability
greenhouse gas emissions 20% (or even 30%, if the conditions are right)
lower than 1990
20% of energy from renewables
20% increase in energy efficiency
4. Education
Reducing the rates of early school leaving below 10%
at least 40% of 30-34–year-olds completing third level education
5. Fighting poverty and social exclusion
at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social
29
exclusion
The Future of the Regional Policy and Structural Funds
2014-2020
EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020: legislative proposals
The European Commission has adopted a draft legislative package which
will frame cohesion policy for 2014-2020. The new proposals are designed
to reinforce the strategic dimension of the policy and to ensure that EU
investment is targeted on Europe's long-term goals for growth and jobs
("Europe 2020").
Through Partnership Contracts agreed with the Commission, Member States
will commit to focussing on fewer investment priorities in line with these
objectives. The package also harmonises the rules related to different funds,
including rural development and maritime and fisheries, to increase the
coherence of EU action.
Proposals for the Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
General presentation on the reformed EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
30
Future Prospects for Regional Policy and Stuctural Funds 20142020
Q&A on the legislative package for EU Cohesion Policy
2014-2020 (July 2013) European Commission
31
Bibliographic References
DA STUDIARE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
European Union Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 National Strategic Reference Frameworks
EU COHESION POLICY 2014-2020 Targeting Investments on Key Growth Priorities, innovation (file
fiche_innovation_en)
EU COHESION POLICY 2014-2020 Targeting Investments on Key Growth Priorities SMEs (file fiche_sme_en)
EU COHESION POLICY 2014-2020 Targeting Investments on Key Growth Priorities Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) (file fiche_ict_en)
http://www.dps.tesoro.it/documentazione/QSN/docs/QSN2007-2013_giu_07.pdf - La Politica Regionale - Il
Quadro Strategico Nazionale 2007-2013 fino a pag. 52 Capitolo- I IL CONTESTO: RITARDO DI
COMPETITIVITÀ E OPPORTUNITÀ DI SVILUPPO e parte del secondo, LA POLITICA REGIONALE:
IMPOSTAZIONE TEORICA ED ESPERIENZE
2007 – 2013 Programming National Strategic Framework
European Commission EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020: legislative proposals
Proposals Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
General presentation on the reformed EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
Q&A on the legislative package for EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 (July 2013) European Commission
PUBLIC SERVICES PROVISION IN MEZZOGIORNO (“OBIETTIVI DI SERVIZIO”)
•Letture
2007-2013 EMILIA-ROMAGNA ERDF ROP
WEB SITES
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/country/prordn/details_new.cfm?LAN=7&gv_PAY=IT&gv_reg=ALL&gv_PGM=
1153&gv_PER=2&gv_defL=9
http://www.dps.tesoro.it/eng/english_corner.asp
The new website is WWW.DPS.GOV.IT
32