The EU Structural Funds

This book provides a systematic examination of the EU Structural Funds which is an important issue because substantial sums of money are involved that are not being used effectively or efficiently. The book raises topical issues following the challenges posed by the introduction of the Euro and the planned admission of several Eastern European countries to the Union.

The EU Structural Funds is a pioneering book that provides the first systematic and critical examination of the role of the EU Structural Funds and other financial instruments in European integration. The examination is important because of the substantial sums of money involved and shows that these sums are not necessarily being used effectively or efficiently. Total Structural Fund spending from 1994 to 1999 is to be almost Euro 170 billion and this sum represents around 33 per cent of the Union budget and around 0.4 per cent of the Union gross domestic product. For the years 2000 to 2006 spending of up to Euro 218.4 billion is proposed. The issues raised by Andrew Evans are highly topical because of the challenges to established practice entailed by the introduction of a single currency, the `Euro'', and by plans for the future accession of several countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the Union.