An article by John Bachtler on the added value of Structural Funds is included in a new publication on the future of Cohesion policy launched by the MEPs Lambert van Nistelrooij, Jan Olbrycht and Ambroise Guellec of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament.
Based on a hearing in the European Parliament held in November 2007, the publication provides a range of contributions from politicians, government officials, academics and business-people under the heading "A New Regional Policy: Innovative Ideas for the post-2013 reform" containing different views on how EU Cohesion policy should be re-shaped.
John's paper reviews the evidence for the added value of Cohesion policy, the scope and need for change, and potential ways of improving the added value of the policy in terms of its focus and management. A copy of the publication is available here and the press release of the EPP-ED Group at the launch is here .