Co-financing of European Union funds - one of the factors for sustainable development of Latvia's regions
2007
Jermolajeva, E.
In order to achieve the objective - to evaluate sustainable development opportunities of Latvia's regions based on co-financing of European Union (EU) funds, the allocation and usage of EU funds within the division by regions in 2004-2006 and the framework of National Entrepreneurship Support Programmes were analysed. The basic principles of EU regional policy and Latvian development priorities as well as possible regional development evaluation methodology applied were examined. The territory development indexes for the planning regions elaborated by the State Regional Development Agency were analysed with the aim to describe the current situation in the planning regions. The problem of the research - the EU co-funding has been provided to foster balanced development of the regions, but in practice it proves that economically advanced regions attract more EU co-funding while less developed regions do not receive sufficient funding thus resulting in retained or even increased socio economic disparities instead of combating those disparities. Taking in consideration that the impact of co-financing on the region's development could be evaluated not earlier than in 2-3 years' time after the investment, it is crucial to begin the research and discussions at the present moment to prove that no development expectations can be made if no or small amount of funds are invested.
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