Structural and regional funding

The EU has money to share out - a lot of money, for regions which are structurally weak. In return Brussels wants to have a say in these regions. However, can bureaucrats really know what Portugal's periphery for example needs? So far this has always gone wrong. From 2014 the structural aid is itself to be re-structured, giving more control to the EU. At the same time it should be easier to access funds. Does that sound like a contradiction? Does it make sense? That's what we're asking next week on Europa plus.