ESPON 2.2.2

Selected Results of Final Report

Luxembourg, 17-18 May 2005Sabine Zillmer, IRS

Limits of the Undertaken Research

• Quantitative Impact Assessment low level of pre-accession aid interventions limited allocation of pre-accession aid to regional level other than primarily territorial objectives of pre-accession aid time lags of impacts

• Qualitative Impact Assessment many unfinished projects vs. lack of contact persons limited comparability of case studies (different foci: time, themes, levels) varying quality of case studies

• Ex-ante Analysis – no regionalised information

Recommendations are not based on proved quantitative relations but are deducted from different methodological steps and causal relations

Policy Package Options

• MEGAs: infrastructure linkages at different levels; innovation; sector & business structure

• Western Border Regions: human resources; innovation; cross-border integration

• Old Industrial Regions: business restructuring; human resources; infrastructure modernisation; environment

• Eastern Peripheral & Rural Regions: economic diversification (SMEs); institution building; human resources …

Policy Package Options on Basis of Cluster Analysis

• Labour market: HCI, Active population density, unemployment rate

• Innovation potential: Share of R&D employment in active population

• Regional market & geographic position: GDP per capita in PPS, Multimodal accessibility potential

• Urbanisation & localisation advantages: share of agricultural and of tertiary employment in total employment, settlement structure

• Institutional potential: Bertelsmann Statusindex

Policy Recommendations Related to the Macro Level

• Aiming at macro level cohesion – Balanced support to prosperous regions in new Member States to enhance productivity (& snowball effects in long run) while realising investment related transfers to avoid desillusion of peripheral regions

• MEGAs

strengthen them to become stronger (weak/potential)

are of major importance for convergence and competitiveness

macro level accessibility also including hinterland for snowball effects (transport & telecommunication)

'high road' economic restructuring, e.g. business & innovation centres, investment support schemes

support to international R&D (networking)

Macro Level – Past Performance in Relation to Pre-Accession Aid Spending

Policy Recommendations Related to the Meso Level

• Institutional Conditions – strengthening of institutional capacities for optimal utilisation of interventions in terms of territorial impacts, especially with regard to coordination and partnership building & increasing absorption capacity

• Coordination of Sector Policies – as many reveal strong territorial dimension, which could be conflicting with each other & especially with structural policies (setting of clear spatial priorities)

• Western Border, Centrally Located Rural & Old Industrial Regions – build upon existing links to neighbouring agglomerations and past positions

human resource development in regional centres

spatial integration measures…

Meso Level – Ex-ante Assessment for Selected Types of Regions

…

Support to Policy Option Selection

• Policy Options "Checklist" – Questions with regard to the following themes:

Institutional capacity

Territorial development objectives

Spatial levels addressed

Identification of needs of relevant spatial levels

Thematic scope of interventions

Gaps and Further Research Issues

• Gaps Data, data, data…

limited extend of analysis of the 'Acquis'

• Further Research Issues Continuation of impact assessment

Adoption of Structural Funds in the new Member States Flow analysis for transnational and cross-border impact assessment Future development perspectives of the CEECs, Malta and Cyprus in the light of the Lisbon strategy Further development and specification of territorial objectives in particular with regard to CEECs …