Fondi strutturali per il ciclo di programmazione 2007-2013: analisi critica della ripartizione delle risorse finanziarie tra le Regioni dei Paesi membri

Structural Funds for the programming period 2007-2013: a critical analysis on financial allocation among Regions of Member States Objectives - The recent European Commission?s implementing regulation for the Structural and Cohesion Funds 2007-2013 establishes criteria for defining the Regions eligible for funding from the Structural Funds. Moreover it identifies the objectives to be reached during the programming period. The general objectives of the Structural policies consist in speeding up the convergence of the least-developed Member States and regions by improving conditions for growth and employment through higher quality investments in physical and human capital, innovation, environment and administrative efficiency. However, the indicators used to identify regions for funding mainly refer to GDP and population. Methods and Results The analysis uses a simulation model based on Regions of Member States financial allocation model. The results show that using indicators more coherent with the European Commission objectives would lead to a different funds allocation. Conclusions This paper tries to highlight the inconsistency of this process and, through the identification and use of alternative indicators, proposes some simulations in order to present a different and more coherent scenario of financial allocation of Structural Funds.