The regional policy developed by the General Administration of the State is applied via different instruments. The most important, according to their financial characteristics and size, are the following: European Structural Funds; The Interterritorial Compensation Fund; State assistance for regions; Local State Cooperation
Of these instruments of regional policy, the most important, due to their financial size, are theEuropean Structural Funds. Spain has received between 2000 and 2006 a total of 60.75 billion euros (from 2004) and will receive 31.54 billion euros (from 2004) in the period 2007-2013.
The application of the European Structural Funds in the regions selected for each Objective is based on a set of multi-year programming documents, developed by the Spanish government, which must be approved by the European Commission.