However it has to be mentioned, that not only the poor ones get the aid from the funds, in fact every EU member state receives resources from cohesion policy budget.

The total appropriation for the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund stands at EURO 213 billion.

Challenges for the future

In Commission’s opinion fundamental structural reform is not an option, but a necessity. There is a need to improve aid strategies and budget allocations to ensure that they reflect the needs of the beneficiaries and priorities. This must remain a core task of the Commission administration. The Union's enlargement will raise very serious problems for economic and social cohesion, given the considerable development lag in their regions compared to the current 15 Member States. Enlargement will increase the Union's diversity, posing some problems of adjustment for both regions and sectors; this will require adequate preparation. After accession, the Structural Funds programmes and the Cohesion Fund projects will replace pre-accession assistance, due regard being taken to each country's capacity to absorb this funding.

2002 will be an important year in terms of the preparation for accession, including the designation of appropriate structures by the candidate countries to implement the Structural Funds. In conformity with the established road map to accession, the most advanced candidate countries are to submit their first draft development plan, which will be analysed by and discussed with the Commission. The DG Regional Policy will also take the lead in drafting further guidance for the candidate countries with respect to their Structural Funds programmes. The participation of candidate countries in Interreg programmes is a first realistic experience and more attention will be given to their internal cross-border programmes.

Cohesion policy should continue to target the least developed regions after enlargement. While a number of alternative ways for identifying these regions has been put forward, there does not seem to a viable alternative synthetic indicator to that of GDP per head, as currently used for Objective 1.