Options for Further Developing EU Regional Subsidy Area Indicators Beyond 2020

Regional subsidy areas in EU member states can only be defined using one of the “population thresholds” established by the European Commission based on various criteria. In view of Germany’s relatively favourable economic development by EU comparison, this threshold is likely to be far lower than previously in the forthcoming subsidy period. This will be reinforced by a statistical effect triggered by Brexit that should lower per capita gross domestic product in the EU 27. To address this anticipated negative impact on German regional and structural policy in favour of less-developed German regions, this study proposes a series of methodical changes in how the population thresholds are set out. The changes are aimed at ensuring that national regional special circumstances can still be dealt with in the context of national regional policy.