Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

EU: Spain — Operational Programme 2007–2013: Valencia

/noticias.info/ 1. Operational Programme 2007-2013 for Valencia – programme under the "Regional competitiveness and employment" objective, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

2. Overview

On 29 November 2007, the European Commission approved an operational programme for Valencia in Spain for the period 2007-2013.

This operational programme comes under the "Regional competitiveness and employment" objective and has a total budget of some €2.2 billion. The financing provided by the Community through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) totals around €1.3 billion, representing some 3.8% of total EU investment in Spain under the cohesion policy 2007-2013.

3. Purpose and aim of the programme

The strategy of the operational programme was developed on the basis of:

* regional issues highlighted by the identification and analysis of the region’s potential;
* the gains achieved during the previous stages of the Community programme;
* the Community’s strategic guidelines and the national strategic framework, which establish the principles for the allocation of European funding.

The region of Valencia has chosen to place sustainable and socially integrated development at the heart of its strategy, i.e.:

* the improvement of regional competitiveness, based on investment in the field of communication and the reinforcement of research, production and the dissemination of innovation (particularly innovation in the private sector), as well as access to, and the dissemination of, information and knowledge;
* increased productivity and diversification of production structures;
* regional balance, integration, environmental protection and the management of water resources.

The strategic objective is for Valencia to acquire the physical and technological capital needed to strengthen its international competitiveness.

In relation to the period 2000-2006, Valencia has managed to reduce a number of deficits and achieve relative prosperity, thus allowing it to leave the Convergence objective and move towards joining the "Competitiveness - phasing in" regions. It must now meet new challenges, such as:

* the labour market (high unemployment rate, particularly among women and young people, and low rate of participation);
* immigration issues (training, social, economic and regional integration);
* infrastructure needs for communications and telecommunications and also to ensure the availability of water resources needed to prevent obstacles to development.

The programme aims to make a significant contribution to achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, with considerable support being provided for research, technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship. A number of programme actions will focus on the better provision and accessibility of transport services in the trans-European and regional networks and also the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, the management and distribution of drinking water and the treatment of waste water.

Special efforts will be made to promote sustainable development in urban areas and in the mountainous or outlying areas of the region.

4. Expected impact of the investments

The expected impact of the programme can be estimated as follows:

* 22 865 jobs created;
* an increase in expenditure on research and development / GDP by around 264% (from 0.99% at present to 2.61% in 2013);
* private investment of almost €4 billion;
* an increase in recipient businesses using environmentally friendly management systems (certified ISO 14001 and/or EMAS) by 160% (from the current 442 businesses with ISO 14001 certification to 711 in 2013).

5. Priorities

The operational programme is structured around six priorities:

Priority 1: Development of the knowledge-based economy, R&D&i and the information society [around 17% of total investment]

This priority is geared to the region's technological convergence with the European Union, focusing on actions linked to the promotion of research, innovation, the development and dissemination of technologies and the information society. In particular, it will be based on:

* the encouragement of research, development and innovation (R&D&i) (mainly through businesses);
* the strengthening of information and communication technologies (ICT) as an instrument for improving productivity.

Priority 2: Business development and innovation [around 24% of total investment]

The second priority relates to assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of technological and organisational innovation, internationalisation, access to financial resources for productive investments, technological services, etc. It is based on:

* increased private investment in physical, technological and human capital in order to improve the productivity of businesses;
* investment assistance for businesses, innovation and the diversification of production;
* encouraging and providing assistance for internationalisation;
* the information society;
* assistance for entrepreneurial initiative.

Priority 3: Environment, water resources and risk prevention [around 27% of total investment]

The areas for action under this priority relate in particular to:

* the recovery of land and alternative uses for it which offer significant "added value";
* the reduction of risks to the population and to properties linked to flooding and silting;
* sustainable development, by ensuring the availability of clean, high-quality water resources;
* improved irrigation efficiency;
* the promotion of biodiversity and the protection of nature.

Priority 4: Transport and energy [around 22% of total investment]

The main actions aim at improving infrastructures in the field of railway connections, subway trains and intermodal integration with the region's airports and ports. These actions relate to assistance for the main railway, port and airport communication infrastructures and the promotion of intermodal transport and transport centres for travellers and of the transport of goods.

Priority 5: Local and urban sustainable development [around 8.5% of total investment]

The main actions focus on balanced development in the region. They are based on:

* development assistance in rural areas;
* improvement in the quality of tourism services as a driving force behind rural development;
* the promotion of regional cohesion, using integrated rural and urban regeneration projects aimed at small and medium-sized municipalities;
* the reinforcement of urban development as a means of achieving social cohesion.

Priority 6: Technical assistance [around 1.5% of total investment]

Technical assistance facilitates the strengthening of administrative capacity to use funding and the co-financing of management, monitoring, evaluation, coordination, information and communication activities. notas_de_prensa_archivo