The EU Regional Policy in Wallonia (2000-17)

This article examines the effectiveness of the European Union regional policy in the Belgian region Wallonia in 2000-2020. It also observes the economic development of the region in comparison to another Belgian region, Flanders. All the information on the programmes exercised in Wallonia and statistics are taken from the official sources of the Walloon government and the European Commission. The aims of the article are to trace how the economy of Wallonia has been changing since the beginning of the EU regional policy and if the regional development gap has been shortening. The authors appeal to the historical context, in which the economic inequality of the regions reversed its polarity. Flanders, being a less developed region than Wallonia, became the most economically effective in Belgium. The regional policy had its own aims for each of three program periods covered by this article: 2000-06, 2007-13, 2013-20. There is a number of programmes focused on a definite economic aspect for each of the aims. All of these programmes are financed by one or several EU Structural Funds which are related to a certain economic sphere. One of the common series of the programmes for the entire EU for each period is INTERREG. It aims to promote cooperation between the EU member states and to reduce the influence of national borders. In the case of Wallonia, it covers the national borders of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg. The authors also notice such common initiatives as URBAN, which assumes the economic and social regeneration of cities and neighborhoods and LEADER+, aiming to assist the development of rural areas. There is also a number of programmes implemented in Wallonia which are focused on more narrow issues. The EU regional policy failed to achieve the expected result during the first program period in Wallonia, for example, it was expected to create 12 175 jobs by 2008, the real effect in the employment sector was 10.8 thousand jobs. Also, the growth in the regional revenue in 2008 was estimated at 326 million euros against the expected 350 million euros. During the second period, the Walloon economic growth was also minor, for example, the GDP of the Walloon region increased from 84.7 to 87.1 billion euros while the GDP of Flanders increased from 209.7 to 217.2 billion euros. The last program period has not finished yet but there are some expected results so it is possible only to survey annual statistics. The authors come to the conclusion that the regional policy pursued in this region is not sufficiently effective and requires priority reforms. From 2013 to 2016, the Walloon region's GDP grew from 87 to 90.3 billion euros, while the GDP of Flanders increased from 217.2 to 228.8 billion euros. The GDP per capita for the same time period increased from 29 to 29.8 thousand euros while in Flanders it increased from 40.5 to 42 thousand euros. The economic gap between these two regions continues to increase. Thus, Wallonia remains a problem region requiring special attention of the European Union.

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