Publication: Actionable Regulatory Governance Indicators for UE Regions
Date
2018-06-13
ISSN
Published
2018-06-13
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is
its biggest investment instrument. It supports the Europe
2020 strategy of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth.
With a budget of €351.8 billion for 2014–2020, the Cohesion
Policy accounts for around one-third of the EU budget. The
Cohesion Policy is primarily implemented through investments
in EU regions and cities. Local and regional governments in
the EU are responsible for more than half of all public
investment. There is a growing focus on the importance of
good governance to ensure effective implementation. The
European Commission’s 6th Cohesion Policy report notes that
governance problems not only delay the implementation of
Cohesion Policy programs but also reduce the impact of these
investments. The report states: ‘a lower standard of
governance can affect the impact of Cohesion Policy both
directly and indirectly. In the first place, it can reduce
expenditure if programs fail to invest all the funding
available. Secondly, it can lead to a less coherent or
appropriate strategy for a country or region. Thirdly, it
may lead to lower quality projects being selected for
funding or to the best projects not applying for support at
all. Fourthly, it may result in a lower leverage effect
because the private sector is less willing to co-finance
investment.’ The purpose of this report is to develop and
test a set of actionable indicators for the regulatory
frameworks of EU regions. Deregulatory measures focusing on
‘fixing broken regulations’ are a necessary and important
element of investment climate reforms. However, gains from
one-off initiatives aimed at cutting costs and procedures
are often reversed if the responsible institutions, tools,
and incentives are not changed.
Citation
“World Bank. 2018. Actionable Regulatory Governance Indicators for UE Regions. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30021 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”