Projects

This three-year project, funded by Tacis, developed a framework for an efficient regional policy which would challenge regional asymmetries and promote greater political and economic integration within the Russian Federation.

The project involved research on the proposed designation criteria (GDP per head and unemployment) for the reform of Structural Funds in 1999 and discussed the conceptual and practical issues associated with their use. It also considered possible alternative measures and commented on their potential reliability and usefulness.

The project involved an analysis of the treatment of tax measures under EU Competition policy, focusing on the distinction between State aids and general measures. In particular, it identified a number of tax advantages that had not hitherto been classified as aid by the Commission. It also provided an overview of the mechanisms put in place by Member States to honour their obligations to notify State aid to the Commission, in advance of implementation.

The project involved a structured analysis and review of support for R&D in selected EU countries - France, UK, Italy, Germany, Sweden.

The project inolved research on the impact of a wide range of Member State policies on economic and social cohesion: policies which had an explicit spatial dimension (regional policies, urban policy, rural policy etc), horizontal policies with important regional impacts (RTD and employment policies) and inter-regional transfers from central government budgets. It was undertaken as a study for the European Commission's First Cohesion Report.

Against the backdrop of signficant changes to the Structural Funds, this studied explored the role of information in the changing relationships between national and subnational authorities, providing practical examples of regional and local planning and other information networks.

The IQ-Net project involves comparative research and knowledge exchange on the management and implementation of EU Structural Funds programmes. Funded by national and regional authorities from across the EU, the project investigates how EU Cohesion policy is implemented on the ground, and facilitates policy learning and exchaneg of experience on themes relating to programme design, management and delivery.

Visit the project website here.

The aim of this study was to review the economic literature concerning the impact of subsidies for large investment projects. It was undertaken for DGII (now DG ECFIN) and linked to a study for DGIV (now DG COMP).

The aim of this study was to explore the options for introducing competition policy constraints on the use of regional State aid for large investment projects. It was undertaken for DGIV (now DG COMP) and linked to a study for DGII (now DG ECFIN).

The EoRPA project involves comparative research and knowledge exchange on regional policy in Europe, involving annual reviews of regional policies in Europe (covering 30 countries) focusing on EU Cohesion policy and the impact of EU Competition policy on regional policy on policy objectives, instruments, eligible areas, governance and effectivenes. Funded by a consortium of national government departments, EoRPA also involves research in the interactions between national regional policies and EU Cohesion policy and EU Competition policy.