History of the policy

1957 – regional policy finds its the origins in the Treaty of Rome founding the European Economic Community.
1968 – Directorate-General for Regional Policy of the European Commission was created.
1975 – creation of the European Regional Development Fund

1988 – to adapt to the arrival of Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), the Structural Funds were integrated into an overarching cohesion policy, introducing key principles:
- focusing on the poorest and most backward regions
- multi-annual programming
- strategic orientation of investments
- involvement of regional and local partners
Budget: ECU 64 billion

1993 – the Maastricht Treaty introduced three novelties:
- the Cohesion Fund
- the Committee of the Regions
- the principle of subsidiarity
1993 – creation of the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance
1994-99 – the resources for the structural and cohesion funds were doubled, to equal a third of the EU budget.
1995 – a special objective was added to support the sparsely-populated regions of Finland and Sweden.
Budget: ECU 168 billion

2000 – the ‘Lisbon Strategy’ shifted the EU's priorities towards growth, jobs and innovation. The priorities of cohesion policy were shifted to reflect this.
2000-04 – pre-accession instruments made funding and know-how available to countries waiting to join the EU
2004 – ten new countries joined (increasing the EU's population by 20%, but its GDP by only 5%).
Budget: €213 billion for the 15 existing members; €22 billion for the new member countries (2004-06)

Budget: €347 billion (of which 25% has been earmarked for research and innovation, and 30% for environmental infrastructure and measures to combat climate change)
simplified rules and structures
emphasis on transparency and communication and an even stronger focus on growth and jobs are key elements of the reform
Key investment areas.

20 years of Cohesion Policy (Panorama magazine, June 2008)