Further Information : Policy
To be fully effective, the ERDF and ESF Programmes must link into to a range of policy actions, enabling Structural Funds to maximise the value added. These links must be established at different levels to ensure funding not only complements but builds on existing policy.
The Lowlands and Uplands Programmes will fit within and alongside:
- The Community Strategic Guidelines, which set the indicative framework for Cohesion Policy in support of the EU's growth and jobs commitments
- The UK's National Strategic Reference Framework, as specified in Article 25 of the General Regulation, in which the chapter on Scottish Structural Funds goals provides the overall framework
- The UK's National Reform Programme, detailing how the UK as a whole is addressing the challenges and targets developed as part of the wider Lisbon Agenda, to which the Structural Funds are intended to contribute
- Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs, approved by the European Council in 2005
- European Employment Strategy, determining how the Lisbon Growth and Jobs Agenda can be achieved in the areas of employment, employability and social inclusion policy.
- Scottish domestic policy initiatives
Further information on the policy context of the new Programmes can be found under Part 3 of the ESF and ERDF Operational Programme documents.
