Following publication of Agenda 2000 the EU Commission has been criticised as overly optimistic on the budgetary consequences of the envisaged accession of a number of Central and East European Countries. This article briefly reviews the evolution of regional disparities within the EU and the impact of the Structural and Cohesion Funds on the present recipient regions. It then investigates whether it is financially feasible to extend EU regional policy to the five likely new CEEC member states without a major reform of the present system.
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