Cohesion policy has not explicitly addressed the issue of ‘shrinking regions’ phenomenon. With the 1988 reform of the Structural Fund’s the European Union targeted as an absolute priority the ‘catch-up’ problem facing the poorer regions, and in the current situation of post-enlargement this remains a key priority for the period 2007-2013. Indeed if we take the 84 regions that are included in the convergence category we find that a large majority of them are affected by problems linked to demographic decline.

 

• Maps plotting probable dates for the start of population decrease in European regions suggest the existence of a process of spatial distribution of demographic decline (shown in red on the map) around those regions that are currently affected by the phenomenon. In a situation of limitation on Extra-European immigration such a process of distribution of decline seems logical when we accept that a region that is economically dynamic but surrounded by ageing regions in demographic decline will find it increasingly difficult to attract labour and younger population in the future.
• In 2007, the decrease of population is mainly a concern for regions of New Member States (except Malta and Cyprus). But this phenomenon of population decline will spread in few years toward Finland, western and southern Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and the north-east of France. The regions that are expected to resist demographic decline longest are located in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands, along with the south-west of France and the Paris region. To this we can add some of the islands of Mediterranean (Cyprus, Malta, and Corsica) and various isolated cities such as Vienna and Prague.