ABSTRACT
A central European policy for Spain are the structural funds destined for the upgrading of the economic and public infrastructures of the country. As already mentioned in the previous chapter, Spain was the champion of upgrading the role of the structural funds as a compensation mechanism for the emerging Single EuropeanMarket. Spain has been a recipient of structural funds since 1985. The whole process was originally controlled very much by the central government. Only gradually did the central government allow stronger involvement of the regional governments in the whole formulation and decision-making process. In the past eighteen years a learning process took place, which certainly contributed to a better management and implementation of the structural funds. In the first Common Support Framework (CSF I) (1988-93) financed by the Delors I Package, the central Spanish government did not involve the regions efficiently in the whole process. One of the main reasons was the lack of experience in dealing with the European policy-making process. Moreover, the time frame of formulation and decision making was too short to achieve a better integration of the regions. This changed for the better in the process towards the formulation and decision making leading up to CSF II (1994-99). A better coordination and allocation of the funds clearly was related to lessons learned from CSF I. In spite of the stronger involvement of the regions, the overall picture was still characterised by the strong dominance of the central government in the whole process, mainly because the regional administrations were not equipped to deal with all aspects related to the structural funds. It is too early to make an assessment of what is happening in CSF III (2000-6), but certainly one can assert that the development towards a further integration of the regions in terms of the concept of partnership and subsidiarity will continue to gain in importance. Spain is eligible for 22 per cent of all structural funds. They represent an important strategic tool for economic development. Spain was able to come closer to the EU GDP average in the past decade. While it had only 74 per cent of the EU average GDP per capita in 1988, in 1998 this had risen to 81.4 per cent. The main problem in Spain, as already mentioned in Chapter 5, is the asymmetrical distribution of this GDP per capita. While Madrid, the North-East (the Basque Country, Navarre and La Rioja) and the East (Catalonia, the Balearics and Valencia) come close to or surpass the EU average, the North-West (Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria), the South (Andalusia and Murcia) and the Centre (Castilla Leo´n, Castilla La Mancha and Extremadura) are still lagging considerably behind (see Figure 6.2). Although Spain was able to improve its GDP per capita towards the EU average, the internal disparities, in spite of structural funds, continue to be salient. This can be observed particularly in the southern regions of Andalusia and Murcia which were not able to make substantial improvements in relation to the richest regions of Madrid, Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarre.
