WATER FOR THE WORLD

DO YOU FIND THIS INTERESTING?

Europe and the future

Regional policy

The creation of wealth, social cohesion and the protection of the environment are future objectives established by the European Union. Over the next seven years, from 2007 to 2013, 347,400 million euros will be invested in supporting regional development and promoting the creation of employment, especially in new member states.

Within the EU's Cohesion Policy, sustainability is present transversally in all planned programmes, such as corporate competitiveness, transport or infrastructures. Furthermore, 51,000 million will be specifically dedicated to financing water and waste treatment infrastructures, land decontamination and environmental hazard protection.

These activities are co-financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund. These funds are managed in each member state through different Operational Programmes, financing between 50% and 85% of the investments required based on assessment, publicity and control criteria set out in EU regulations.

EU Sustainable Development Strategy

Sustainable development is defined as "progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

The EU has a sustainable development strategy to respond to the economic, social and environmental challenges identified in the Rio Summit. These challenges are:

• Climate change and clean energy
• Sustainable transport
• Sustainable consumption and production
• Conservation and management of natural resources
• Public health
• Social integration, demography and migrations
• Global poverty

Do you find this interesting?