Avrupa Birligi 'nde, iilkeler araszndaki gelir farkllllklarzmn azaltzlmasz ve bOlgeler arasmdaki dengesizliklerin giderilmesi Birligin ilk kurulu$ yzllarmdan itibaren temel hedeflerinden biri olmu$tur. Soz konusu amaca ula$mada Birlik tarafindan c;e$itli arac;lar geli$tirilmi$tir. Bu arac;lardan en onemlisi yapzsal fonlardzr. Yzllar itibariyle geli$imi incelendiginde yapzsal fonlarzn oneminin giderek arttzgz goriilmektedir. Soz konusu fonlarzn etkinligini artzrmak iizere c;e$illi reformlar gerc;ekle$lirilmi$ ve bu reformlar neticesinde bir yandan fonlara ili$kin yapzsal degi$iklikler yapzllrken, diger yandan da bu amac;la ayrzlan kaynak miktarz giderek artml$llr. Bu r;ah$mamn amacz, Avrupa Birligi 'ndeki yapzsal fonlarzn temel niteliklerini ve temel enstriimanlarmz incelemek, tarihi perspektiften hareketle bu alanda gerc;ekle$tirilen reformalarz ele almak ve 2007 oncesi ve sonrasznda Fonlarzn yapzszndaki degi$ikligi ortaya koymaktzr. 

Greater equality across Europe in income and decreasing the regional disparities have been one of the central goals of the European Union since the early days of European integration. Various policy measures have been introduced in achieving this goal over the years. Structural funds are the most favorite instrument used by the European Union to reach this goal. The importance of the structural funds has increased over the course of the European Union's history. They went through many major reforms. The aim of this study is to analyse the main characteristics of the European Structural Policy. Institutional roots and the development of the Policy, principles of funding, objectives and tools, chancing structure of the Policy after 2007 and pre-accession aid to accession countries will be analyzed in this context.