Challenges

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European Council of Civil Engineers
EU Financial Tools 42nd ECCE Meeting, Istanbul,
Turkey Presented by CEng Vassilis P.
Economopoulos
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EUROPEAN UNION
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European Union Today

• 25 European Union Member States
• (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
  Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
  Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
  Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal,
  Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The
  Netherlands, United Kingdom)
• 4 New Applicant Countries
• (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey)

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The Institutions of the European Union
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT This is the Parliament for
all European Citizens. The 732 MEPs represent the
EUs 457 million citizens. They were elected
directly by the citizens of 25 Member States in
June 2004. COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION The
Council is the main decision making body of the
European Union. The Council is responsible for
decision making and coordination. The acts of
the Council can take the form of regulations,
directives, decisions common actions, or common
positions, recommendations or opinions. The
Council can also adopt conclusions, declarations
or resolutions. The Ministers of the Member
States meet within the Council of the EU.
Depending on the issue on the agenda, each
country will be represented by the Minister
responsible for that subject (foreign affairs,
finance, social affairs, transport, agriculture
etc.). The number of votes for each Member State
is allocated by the Treaties. The Treaties also
define cases in which a simple majority,
qualified majority or unanimity are required.
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION
It is apartized from 25 Commissioners (one of
each Member States) and it is the heart of
administration and operation of the EU. The
European Commission was created to represent the
European interest common to all Member States of
the Union. It plays its role as guardian of the
Treaties and defender of the general interest.
The Commission has been given a right of
initiative in the legislative process, proposing
the legislation on which the European Parliament
and the Council decide. The Commission is also
responsible for implementing common policies. It
administers the budget and manages the Union s
programmes. European Commission is divided into
26 directorates-general (DG) and nine (9)
services which are in turn divided into
directorates and directorates into units.
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The European Unions Financial Framework

• The financial framework is an Interinstitutional
  Agreement between the European Parliament, the
  Council and the Commission. The classification of
  Union expenditure in the following headings of
  the financial framework reflects the various
  policy options.
• Heading 1 Sustainable Growth
• 1a. Competitiveness for growth and employment
• Research and innovation, education and training,
  EU networks, interval market
• 1b. Cohesion for growth and employment
• Convergence of the least developed Member States
  and regions

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• Heading 2 Preservation and Management of Natural
  Resources
• Common agricultural and fisheries policies, rural
  development and environmental measures
• Heading 3 (The new) Citizenship, Freedom,
  Security and Justice
• Border Protection, Immigration, Public Health and
  Consumer Protection, Culture, Youth, Information
  and Dialogue with Citizens
• Heading 4 The European Union as a Global Partner
  
• External action, Integration of the European
  Development Fund
• Heading 5 Administration
• Expenditures for EU Institutions and generally EU
  operation

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• The European Union Annual Budget
• Of course the EU Budget reflects the strategy and
  the policy making of the European Union
• INCOME
• Agricultural duties and sugar levies (1,5 of
  the overall turnover 2005)
• Custom duties (10,1 of the overall turnover
  2005)
• VAT based resource (14,4 of the overall
  turnover 2005)
• Gross National Income (GNI) based resource
  fourth resource
• (73,0 of the overall turnover 2005)
• 5. Miscellaneous plus surplus from the previous
  year (1 of the overall
  
• turnover 2005)

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• EXPENDITURES
• Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) (42,6 of the
  overall turnover 2005)
• Structural Funds (36,4 of the overall turnover
  2005)
• Internal EU Policies (7,8 of the overall
  turnover 2005)
• External Actions (4,5 of the overall turnover
  2005)
• Administration (5,4 of the overall turnover
  2005)
• Other (Reserves, Precession Strategy,
  Administration)
• (3,3 of the overall turnover 2005)

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For 2005 the annual budget is amounted in total
to 116.554 million Euros in appropriations for
commitments and to 106.300 million Euros in
appropriations for payments. This represents an
increase of 6,2 in commitments and 4,4 in
payment appropriations in relation to 2004
budget. This level of payment appropriations is
equivalent to 1,004 of the Gross National Income
(GNI) of the enlarged EU. What is the critical
point and the big debate in the European Union /
European Community evolution. The effort of the
South / Cohesion countries previously and now the
new EU countries to increase the total amount of
EU budget, to increase the income from the fourth
resource and succeed the convergence. For 2006 EU
Annual Budget, the proposed budget by the EU
Council is amounted to 120.800 million Euros in
appropriations for commitments and to 111.400
million Euros in appropriations of payments and
the European Parliament approved 121.400 million
Euros / commitments and 115.400 million Euros /
payments. Anyway, the level of payment
appropriations remains equivalent to 1,01 of the
Gross National Income (GNI) of the enlarged EU.
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STRUCTURAL FUNDS
The Communitys Structural Funds consist of the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the
European Social Fund (ESF), the Guidance Section
of the European Agricultural Guidance and
Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and the Financial
Instrument for Fisheries Guidance
(FIFG). Objectives of the Structural Funds The
Structural Funds are the main instrument for
economic and social cohesion in the Community.
They support three specific objectives Objective
1 Development and structural adjustment of
regions whose development is lagging
behind Objective 2 Economic and social
convergence of areas in structural
difficulty Objective 3 Adaptation and
modernization of policies and systems for
education, training and employment
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In the budget of the Structural Funds appear in
four different policy areas Employment and
Social Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and
Regional Policy. The commitment appropriations
for the Structural Funds in the financial
perspective for the period 2000-2006 amount to
226.973 million at current prices (210.974
million for EU-15 and 15.999 for EU-10), all
reserves included. The Community support
frameworks (CSFs) provide, for each Member State,
the basic strategy for the structural Funds
support. They are based on development plans
presented by the Member States or the regions and
approved by the Commission. The operational
assistance usually takes the form of an
Operational Programme (OP), which is submitted by
the Member State and adopted by the Commission.
The Member States may also present a Single
Programming Document (SPD) consisting of the
development plan and the corresponding request
for aid. In this case, the single decision
adopted by the Commission contains both the
information normally included in the CSFs and
that included in the OP.
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The Community Initiatives (CIs) four in all
are set out in Commission communications to the
Member States proposing that they submit requests
for assistance. CIs are normally carried out in
the form of operational programmes. Apart from
the CSFs and CIs, the Structural Funds also
finance studies, technical assistance operations
and pilot projects relating to their fields of
activity, often by means of calls for proposals
on subjects proposed by the Commission. In the
case of the ERDF, they may also take the form of
a programme with indirect management. However
these programmes may not last for more than two
years and there is no pre-determined allocation
between Member States.
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• COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
• Interreg III Cross-border, transnational and
  inter-regional cooperation intended to
  encourage the harmonious, balanced and
  sustainable development of the whole of the
  Communitys territory
• Leader Rural development
• Urban II Economic and social regeneration
  of cities and suburbs with serious
  structural problems, to promote sustainable
  urban development
• Equal Trans-national co-operation with
  a view to promoting new practices that
  guarantee full equality of opportunity as
  regards access to the labour market.