ABSTRACT
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG Regio) recognised at an early stage the implications of the external and internal pressures on Cohesion policy. This chapter traces the evolution of the debate on the reform of Cohesion policy from the early thinking undertaken on the Second Cohesion Report at the start of the decade through to the publication of the Third Cohesion Report in 2004 as part of the wider set of proposals on the post-2006 Financial Perspective. The choreography of policy change began, in February 2004, with the Commission's proposals for the Multiannual Financial Framework for the 2007 13 period. The Regional Policy Committee voted almost unanimously for a report by rapporteur Francesco Musotto which explicitly called for the strengthening of Cohesion policy, more funding, and the continued support for Objective 1 regions in the EU. The Report addressed the implications of EU enlargement for regional eligibility.
