The effectiveness of the EU's northern periphery programme on an EU and a non-EU region

Abstract

This study mainly evolves around an assessment of whether the European Union's structural funds are indeed effective or not. Through analysing the Northern Periphery Programme 2007-2013, and the Roadex IV project within it, this study aims at bringing a contrast between the implementation of EU structural funds in EU and non-EU regions. One of the main problems encountered in this research is the fact that since the project is on-going, certain results might not be clear enough to draw conclusions. This is mainly due to the fact that effects on the economy are to be seen in the long-run rather than in the short-run. There were also drawbacks due to language barriers (certain information was only available in Greenlandic or Finnish) and there is also lack of information on the Programme since it is still ongoing. Nevertheless, this study still succeeded in providing interesting observations. The Northern Periphery Programme's effectiveness in Greenland and Finland will be analysed through these regions' performance in the Roadex IV project by means of case studies. This analysis was done based on four economic criteria, namely Construction Expenditure, Operational Costs and revenues, Direct impact on regions and the Environmental Impacts as mentioned in a study by Diego Puga. This study also highlights several views held by EU policy researchers and one can say that there are rather divergent views as to whether Regional Policy actually narrows regional disparities or further nurtures such disparities. The Roadex IV project mainly aims at making Arctic regions more accessible through the use of sustainable road material to build roads and make them durable for such a harsh climate. Eventually, this project has shown that it was very cost-efficient and has also led to saving money as the objective of road durability was achieved and also there was a reduction in fuel use. The project's road in Greenland, as a non-EU region, has proved to be rather effective on the methods of road maintenance and has contributed to sharing knowledge. Such research on road-building methods could also contribute to the building of airports and heliports which are of vital importance in Greenland. With regards to Finland, the project was also effective and there was more room for implementation in this region as there are more road networks in Finland. The Roadex Project has contributed to the development of the communities through better connections between municipalities and also by facilitating mobility of economic activities such as exporting timber and other primary sources. The Northern Periphery Programme and the Roadex IV Project have thus proven to be rather effective and the differences in their implementation were rather minimal between Finland and Greenland.