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… prosperous, inclusive and self-sustaining communities,
where the unique cultures,
traditions and environments are enhanced …
Horizontal Themes
ESF Trainee
 

Horizontal Themes

In the Special Transitional Programme, which ran between 2000 and 2006, cross-cutting themes were defined to act as underpinning policy priorities and were applied across all four funds.  These horizontal themes were embedded at all stages of programming, from project design and application through project selection to implementation and, finally, to project monitoring and evaluation.  This commitment to a series of overarching policy objectives running through the Programmes has been maintained into the 2007 – 2013 period.   

Indeed, the intention within the current Programme is to further mainstream them; the General Regulation of the 2007 – 13 Structural Funds makes clear the need to address the issue in Article 3.1 (further set out in Article 17): The action taken under the Funds shall incorporate, at national and regional level, the Community’s priorities in favour of sustainable development by strengthening growth, competitiveness, employment and social inclusion and by protecting and improving the quality of the environment   

Opportunities to encompass sustainable development involve looking forward and ensuring that the importance of the region’s environment is not in any way compromised by other actions.  Sustainability is central to the underpinning of regional competitiveness and will therefore be built into the process of decision making in two ways – by encouraging projects which are sustainable and by creating targets, selection criteria and indicators which encourage appropriate development.   As the Programmes already have a central aim to contribute towards the sustainable growth of the region’s economy by balancing support for underlying sources of national as well as regional competitiveness, the economic growth strand of sustainable development is already recognised.  To ensure that the other elements are mainstreamed effectively in the Programmes, three horizontal themes have been identified: