The Role of EU Cohesion Policy in Spanish Less Developed Regions
2015 Volume 11 Pages 212-232
Details
2015 Volume 11 Pages 212-232
This article aims to overview EU regional policy (1994-1999 and 2000-2006) in Spanish less developed regions, and to analyze whether economic disparities of NUTS2 level regions had been reduced in EU-15.
Spain received from structural and cohesion funds four times and more as much as Spanish regional policy instrument (FCI and IR). Structural and cohesion funds have contributed the largest amount of Regional Operational Programme in Andalucía and Galicia, amounting to 65％ of total expenditure.
From 2000 to 2006, GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity and unemployment rate in Andalucía and Galicia converged to EU-15 average. But, these patterns of growth were heavily dependent on construction, and were less than sustainable growth. In fact, Andalucía unemployment rate raised to 34.4％ in 2012.
In the next period, it seems that EU regional policy in Spanish less developed regions needs to enhance the support of “structural adjustment” and “innovation” which improved regional competitiveness directly.
