Chapter 22: Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments

The EU “Regional Policy” is developed in order to reduce socio-economic disparities among Member States and among regions within the same country and to ensure both socio-economic integration and cohesionOn the other hand, “Coordination of Structural Instruments” requires the establishment of institutional and administrative structures and implementation of general and specific regulations related to each Structural Fund and Cohesion Fund, which constitute the EU financial instruments for achieving set policy objectives.

The acquis under this chapter consists mostly of framework and implementing regulations, which do not require transposition into national legislation. They define the rules for drawing up, approving and implementing Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund programmes reflecting each country’s territorial organisation. The implementation of these programmes is the responsibility of the Member States, which must respect EU legislation in general, for example in the areas of public procurement, competition and environment, when selecting and implementing projects.