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                      View of Brussels with European Parliament on the horizon

 

 

Making good use of the Structural Fund *

During a discussion on BBC, a correspondent from the New York Times wondered out loud about all the expensive buildings going up in Brussels, and this in a period of crisis with recessions hitting various economies rather hard. Of course, budget discussions are never easy. They are often accompanied by shrill voices, but for the new funding period 2014 - 2020 there is much more at stake than increasing or not the EU budget, and this at a time when especially Southern member states have to implement drastic austerity measures. It is about proper use of these funds.

The Structural Fund is a valuable tool and can bring Europe together, provided the funds are used wisely. Unfortunately too much money ends in infrastructures, construction and in the long run in unsustainable projects; once the funding period has ended, the projects sizzle out. This leaves but one alternative still a chance, namely to do a thorough review of how these Structural Funds are administered and how both negative and positive consequences can be assessed in a most meaningful way without succumbing to spin doctor like reports.

Generally speaking, projects which strive to have aside from concrete outcomes as well a learning process, then they can have a political impact above all at local and regional level. Intangible outcomes achieved by projects which can activate its partners are linked to gaining access to political authorities otherwise never approachable. Thus it can open up doors and raise the level of awarness as to what can and should be done within certain spheres of policies. 

The European Union has to ensure not only sustainable development, but a practice which means learning to use, not to abuse culture (Brendan Kennelly). This means not just any way of linking culture to the economy will do, while business practices and business plans need to be considered in terms of their cultural impacts, including upon ways of living and doing things.

Cultural Impact Assessment and use of culture as filter for possible planning interventions has been examined in its pre-stages in the Article 10 ERDF project CIED ('Cultural Innovation and Economic Development'). Since then the Interreg III B CADSES project Hermes showed a way on how to link cultural heritage to use of the new media, and therefore what can be considered as a contributing factor to both local and regional development. It seems that Horizon 2020 seeks to advance research efforts into how use of the past is made possible by linking it to the need to understand the complexity of European identity building processes. For if the quality of cohesion in Europe has to be based on equality, it requires quite another notion of solidarity (Habermas) than what the Structural Fund allows for at the moment.

Hatto Fischer

3.1.2013 (4.5.2014)

 

* For further information about the Regio Policy of the EU during the 2014-2020 period, see

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/thefunds/regional/index_en.cfm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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