Cohesion policy reform: the implications for Spain

The last negotiation of the EU budget and the associated reform of EU Cohesion policy have had major policy implications for Spain, the country in receipt of most Cohesion policy support in the previous programming period. EU enlargement, combined with relatively rapid growth in Spain, impacted on the eligibility of Spanish regions for cohesion support while also taking the country as a whole beyond the eligibility threshold for the Cohesion Fund. This paper reviews how it carried out the reform of the Cohesion policy, what were the results of the negotiations for Spain and its regions in terms of budgetary allocations, as well as the political and institutional impact of these results. Moreover, it focuses on showing the economic effects of the Cohesion policy (1989-2006), and examine the economic implications of the new policy Framework 2007-2013, which form the axis around which has turned the debate on the last negotiation of the EU budget.