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In the last two decades, EU policies have had a fundamental role in orienting regional/local development. The objective of this work is set in this context as it intends to analyze the local development programs activated in Sicily in the last three programming periods. The main aim is to explore whether the EU partnership principle influenced cooperation among local actors, assessing the continuity of local institutional coalition in managing different local development programs within the regional development policy system. We focus, in particular, on Strategic Plans (SP) promoted in Sicily in the transition phase between the 2000-2006 and the 2007-2013 periods., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study challenges the traditional reliance on GDP as the sole indicator of the success of the EU's cohesion policy, aligning with the evolving academic discourse that calls for a broader spectrum of metrics incorporating social factors. The research aims to assess the impact of cohesion on economic performance and social progress at the regional level in Central and Eastern European countries, using regression analysis on panel data. Inspired by the call to move beyond GDP-focused assessments, this research re-evaluates cohesion policy within an expanded framework that prioritizes economic and social dimensions. Specifically, it addresses the escalating concerns of income disparity and poverty in Central and Eastern European nations. Utilizing panel data regression models, this study scrutinizes data from 2007 to 2018, covering two recent programming periods, to offer a comprehensive, multifaceted analysis of the impact of cohesion policy. It underscores the policy's dual role in spurring economic growth and fostering social progress, particularly in mitigating income inequality and reducing poverty. The findings reveal that cohesion policies positively affect both economic performance and social progress, with notable impacts on narrowing the income gap and alleviating poverty in these regions. However, the economic benefits for poverty reduction materialize over a prolonged period, reflecting the gradual nature of policy impact and the time needed for investments to materialize. The study emphasizes the need for a long-term strategic vision in implementing cohesion policies. This includes enhanced data collection, a deeper focus on the social ramifications of policies, streamlined policy processes, capacity building, institutional strengthening, and prioritizing equitable opportunities to bridge income gaps effectively. This comprehensive approach aims to maximize the dual benefits of cohesion policies, promoting balanced economic and social progress across Central and Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Space & Society / Tér és Társadalom is the property of Centre for Economic & Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Pro Publico Bono - Magyar Közigazgatas is the property of National University of Public Service and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study challenges the traditional reliance on GDP as the sole indicator of the success of the EU’s cohesion policy, aligning with the evolving academic discourse that calls for a broader spectrum of metrics incorporating social factors. The research aims to assess the impact of cohesion on economic performance and social progress at the regional level in Central and Eastern European countries, using regression analysis on panel data. Inspired by the call to move beyond GDP-focused assessments, this research re-evaluates cohesion policy within an expanded framework that prioritizes economic and social dimensions. Specifically, it addresses the escalating concerns of income disparity and poverty in Central and Eastern European nations. Utilizing panel data regression models, this study scrutinizes data from 2007 to 2018, covering two recent programming periods, to offer a comprehensive, multifaceted analysis of the impact of cohesion policy. It underscores the policy’s dual role in spurring economic growth and fostering social progress, particularly in mitigating income inequality and reducing poverty. The findings reveal that cohesion policies positively affect both economic performance and social progress, with notable impacts on narrowing the income gap and alleviating poverty in these regions. However, the economic benefits for poverty reduction materialize over a prolonged period, reflecting the gradual nature of policy impact and the time needed for investments to materialize. The study emphasizes the need for a long-term strategic vision in implementing cohesion policies. This includes enhanced data collection, a deeper focus on the social ramifications of policies, streamlined policy processes, capacity building, institutional strengthening, and prioritizing equitable opportunities to bridge income gaps effectively. This comprehensive approach aims to maximize the dual benefits of cohesion policies, promoting balanced economic and social progress across Central and Eastern Europe.

Despite the importance of Cohesion Policy in reducing regional disparities and stimulating economic growth across member states, it has been exposed to compliance challenges. These challenges are evidenced by a higher number of errors and irregularities against other areas of the European Union's budgetary expenditure. Especially fraudulent irregularities may put the EU's financial interests at risk. The question arises, thus, how to protect this EU's largest investment area from fraudulent actions. This article addresses the following research question: How did Member States fight fraud in cohesion policy by taking preventive measures during the period 2014-2020? This contribution takes an exploratory, triangulated approach based on documentary analysis, analysis of a statistical dataset and interviews in the case of two countries, Italy and Slovakia. The findings will first show what measures Italy and Slovakia took to prevent fraud and, second, relate these measures to the countries' performance in the fight against fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to examine the effects of investment in human capital, as funded by EU cohesion policy, on economic development in Poland at the local (LAU 2) level, that is, at the level of municipalities. We found evidence that human capital investment has a positive effect on local revenues. This effect is stronger than what is observed for the assistance programmes not related to human capital. The impact of intervention on migration balance is in turn not significant. We also observed that the effectiveness of the assistance within the cohesion policy depends on existing regional preconditions for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the EU budgetary period 2014-2020 the Hungarian Government devoted significant attention to economic development and its plan was to use 60% of EU regional policy subsidy for this purpose. In the light of this fact, the main aim of our publication is examine the spatial characteristics of the EU economic development aid awarded to local authorities situated in North Great Plain Region (Hajdú-Bihar county, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county), and to point out the differences between the individual areas and settlements. As a result of our research it can be concluded that firstly the smallest settlements were in an unfavourable position (fewer subsidy applications and smaller subsidy amounts), while in case of larger settlements, the examination does not show clear results. Secondly, if we look at administrative functions of settlements, the favourable position of district seats can be observed, which is particularly true in case of the development of industrial parks and industrial areas subsidy topic, Thirdly, examining the socio-economic conditions of settlements, the more unfavourable position of less developed settlements can be observed (lower success rate of subsidy applications), and this was also true for all topics of subsidies.

Purpose: The aim of the article is to evaluate the significance of European Union funds for the development of the regions of Eastern Poland, by focusing on the benefits of obtaining this type of financial support Design/methodology/approach: When collecting empirical material for the article, the method of economic and general statistics was used. The time range of the research covers the years 2004-2018. The rationale for the location of the research is the peripheral location of Eastern Poland voivodeships and the related problems of low growth and economic development, low population density, and low income of local governments and residents. Moreover, this part of Poland benefits from a special European Union Program that financially supports the development of the researched regions. Findings: The research has showed that all voivodships of Eastern Poland narrowed their distance to the national average as it was there that the influence of the cohesion policy on the pace of development was the strongest. Originality/value: The article presents the use of European Union funds, supporting the cohesion policy implemented by local governments in Eastern Poland and the effects of support based on selected indicators, including the absorption rate developed by the present author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the EU budgetary period 2014-2020 the Hungarian Government devoted significant attention to economic development and its plan was to use 60% of EU regional policy subsidy for this purpose. In the light of this fact, the main aim of our publication is examine the spatial characteristics of the EU economic development aid awarded to local authorities situated in North Great Plain Region (Hajdú-Bihar county, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county), and to point out the differences between the individual areas and settlements. As a result of our research it can be concluded that firstly the smallest settlements were in an unfavourable position (fewer subsidy applications and smaller subsidy amounts), while in case of larger settlements, the examination does not show clear results. Secondly, if we look at administrative functions of settlements, the favourable position of district seats can be observed, which is particularly true in case of the development of industrial parks and industrial areas subsidy topic, Thirdly, examining the socio-economic conditions of settlements, the more unfavourable position of less developed settlements can be observed (lower success rate of subsidy applications), and this was also true for all topics of subsidies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional issues, by their nature and content, vary widely from one country to another, being the result of specific conditions and factors that characterize each state. As a result, their resolution, in addition to common elements, has many features, both in terms of regional policy objectives, organizational means and spatial structure, zoning and / or regionalization of territory, to create the framework necessary to materialize and implement these objectives .Regional development policy is one of the most important policies of the European Union. At the same time, this socio-economic cohesion policy is one of the most complex in the whole spectrum of Community policies as it interacts with a number of sectoral areas such as agriculture, transport, economic development, environmental protection, employment and vocational training , equal opportunities and gender Thus, regional development policy is indispensable for the achievement of the Union's constitution and activity objectives.Cohesion policy (Dragan G., 2003) includes both regional policy (geared to reducing territorial disparities, regenerating declining industrial areas, providing rural development assistance), social policy issues (such as combating long-term unemployment and supporting the process education and lifelong learning) as well as a part of the common agricultural policy (rural development assistance).Article 174 (ex Article 158 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (consolidated version) refers to the harmonious development of the whole of the Union, which is achieved through its actions designed to strengthen its economic, social and territorial cohesion, in particular, to reduce disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of disadvantaged regions, including rural areas.

The article aims to carry out an analysis on how the cohesion policy was implemented in the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020, taking into account, in particular, the data and information available until the end of 2019. At the same time, we aimed to emphasize the positive impact of the European funds allocated through the cohesion policy on the local communities, not forgetting to identify also the issues affecting European funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent do regions in different member states of the European Union benefit from Cohesion Policy? A spatial regression discontinuity design approach offers distinct but fully comparable estimates of regional impacts for each individual member state. Cohesion Policy has a positive European Union-wide impact on regional growth and employment. However, a large part of the growth bonus is concentrated in Germany, while impacts on employment are confined to the UK. The picture in Southern Europe is less rosy. In Italy, positive impacts on employment do not survive the Great Recession, while in Spain economic growth benefits are limited to the recovery period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional development agencies (RDAs) have been established in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, where the development of economically underdeveloped areas primarily targeted the federal republics and autonomous provinces. The role of RDAs has been underpinned by the EU due to significance of the cohesion policy for new EU member states (Slovenia and Croatia), the process of association and negotiations on regional policy and the coordination of structural instruments for candidate and potential candidate countries. The paper elaborates on whether and to what extent the RDAs are expected to enhance national administrative capacities for programming, coordination and implementation of financial assistance. On the basis of a normative analysis of policy documents, relevant legislation and desk-research of the core competences and activities of the RDAs, the paper aims to portray the institutional arrangements for regional development, in particular the role of RDAs in the promotion of productivity and growth. Although regional partnerships have emerged as new collaborative governance structures, the principle of partnership is not fully respected as a result of strong centralization, the multitude of actors with overlapping roles and the underdeveloped systemic communication with stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romania is one of the countries that received non-refundable European financial assistance before becoming a Member State of the European Union The experience gained during the 2007-2013 financial programming period in accessing the European Structural and Cohesion Funds has enabled the 'learning' of important lessons to facilitate, the establishment of areas in which there is a strong interest, the identification of investment priorities, the creation of an effective mechanism for coordinating the architecture specific to European funds, etc, for the current period 2014-2020, all of which are intended to ensure the absorption capacity of European funds is as big as possible and a harmonious development and sustainable economic growth across the country Getting nearer the end of the period, allows us to analyse the effectiveness of all these corrective measures by highlighting the absorption rates corresponding to the European funds allocated to Romania, the thematic objectives and operational programmes, thus getting a partial but important picture of our country's progress in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest successive enlargements to Central and Eastern European countries and their differentiated convergence raise the question of the effectiveness of the European structural funds that have been greatly enjoyed by such countries. The literature on this question is nevertheless not unanimous. I therefore offer an analysis of the cohesion policy and its role in regional growth specifically in Central and Eastern Europe, using a method developed in spatial analysis, namely, GWR (geographically weighted regression) at the NUTS 3 level. My findings reveal the existence of a multipolar convergence. The differentiated spatial variations of the influence of European funds on regional economic growth call for reorientation of the cohesion policy, especially in favor of a more territorialized policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The territorial capital of regions is an important determinant of growth, but also of the impact of EU Cohesion Policy. First, because it can act as a filter, enhancing the impact of regional policies. Second, the latter can help building territorial capital which, in turn, will foster regional development. This work analyses the medium and long‐run relationship between the territorial capital of EU NUTS 3 regions and Cohesion Policy using data from the programming period 2000–2006. Results point out complementarities between different territorial assets of regions and the impact of EU regional policy: Cohesion Policy effectiveness is higher when investments are focused on the assets complementary to those already abundant in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Structural and Cohesion Funds (FSC) are the financial instruments through which the European Union sets its footprint for the elimination of economic and social inadequacies between Member States, in order to achieve economic and social cohesion. The analysis and evolution of the structure were considered, underlining their importance in the development of our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether European Union (EU) regional spending influenced how local areas voted in the UK's 2016 EU referendum. While much focus has been on identity and demographic factors in explaining the referendum result, little attention has been paid to the role of EU interventions in the UK's regions. This paper provides an initial exploration into this by assessing the role of EU regional spending. It finds the level of EU spending in local areas had little impact on how those areas voted in the referendum, raising questions about the communication and awareness of EU regional spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the discourse on European Union Cohesion Policy (EUCP) reform, much attention is being paid to policy content, while less attention is being paid to the institutions responsible for adapting and implementing EUCP in national contexts. From a historical institutionalist perspective, regional policy institutions in EU member states are influenced in part by EUCP and national institutional contexts and legacies. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, in particular, have grappled with institutional transformations in the recent era including the transition, pre-accession and post-accession periods, but the influence of EUCP on institutional change has not been well studied following EU accession. Using the cases of Hungary and Estonia, this study builds upon comparative research on CEE from the transition and pre-accession periods, providing an updated view of institutional developments with the aim of widening current understandings of EUCP. Different mechanisms of institutional change are highlighted, pointing to cross-country inconsistencies in the Europeanization process and implementations of EUCP resulting in weak institutions and ambiguity surrounding core policy concepts. Thus, the study reinforces the importance of national institutions for EUCP outcomes and legitimacy, which should factor into current discussions of EUCP reform for the future programming period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the evaluation of the cohesion policy of the European Union in the 2007 - 2013 period. The policy is analyzed with the focal point of spatial distribution of the European cohesion policy funds among the Slovakian municipalities in mind, with emphasis on the social and economic characteristics of said municipalities. As Slovakia was for the most part covered by the Convergence objective of the cohesion policy, with the exception of the region where the capital is located, the assumption is that the most socially and economically disadvantaged municipalities should have obtained significant amount of cohesion policy funding when compared to those municipalities that have better standing in these characteristics. The author clustered the municipalities in accordance with the known social and economic characteristics and the resulting clusters were then analyzed from the point of view of the amount of support the cohesion policy provided. The findings of the paper indicate that the support awarded to the municipalities in the identified clusters varies, however, the level of support does not necessarily follow the level of social and economic development, but rather follows the level of settlement hierarchy. Thus not fully reflecting the Convergence objective at the micro-regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a theoretical analysis of the causes for inter-regional disparities and an empirical study on the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on the standard of living in Bulgaria. It also gives some recommendations for maximizing the beneficial effect of this policy on the regions in our country. The author defends the thesis that the economic imbalances among regions cause social and demographic ones. Accordingly, the study focuses on the economic inter-regional differences and the way they are affected by the Cohesion (Regional) policy of the European Union as a tool utilized by the Community to achieve economic and social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ekonomski Vjesnik is the property of Ekonomski Vjesnik and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The EU cohesion policy seeks to mitigate imbalances between countries and regions and enhance greater economic development of the whole Union. However, notwithstanding its efforts and certain progress on this issue, territorial disparities still represent an open challenge for the European Union, which requires improving the cohesion policy, particularly regarding its measurement, in order to allocate resources more efficiently. This article aims to propose an innovative methodology to measure and identify the degree of cohesion of both EU NUTS-2 regions and member states in economic terms. To this end we first selected the main indicators which would better explain GDP per capita growth by applying factor analysis; and second, we measure the degree of cohesion as the relationship between economic development and its potential attributable to the inequalities detected in the selected set of indicators. To ensure the robustness of this research, we compared the results obtained by applying the Gini, Atkinson, and Theil indexes. Finally, the Economic Cohesion Index (ECI) has been elaborated in order to identify regions that, regardless of their economic development, still present a very low level of cohesion within the group in which it is compared. The main findings indicate that the 27 EU countries are quite cohesive. On the contrary, from the regional perspective, the study shows important imbalances between economic development and its potential that mainly affect the regions of Greece, Spain, and Italy, where Greece is the leading country among less developed regions and Spain and Italy among more developed. • The Economic Cohesion Index aims to measure and identify the degree of economic cohesion in the EU NUTS-2 and countries. • To ensure the robustness of the results Gini, Atkinson, and Theil indexes of inequality were applied. • Economic cohesion is higher between countries than between regions in the case of Gini and Atkinson. • Regardless of their economic development some EU NUTS-2 regions still have a very low level of cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absorption of the financial resources allocated from the EU funds is a very important aspect of the European integration process, while there is a lack of empirical researches on the determinants of a country/region’s abilities to efficiently absorb the money. This study investigates the influence of the chosen territorial economic preconditions important for successful absorption of EU funds over the last two Cohesion Policy programming periods, on the sample of convergence and developed NUTS 2 regions of the EU. The analysis is based on 86 regions that have GDP per capita less than 75% of the EU average (convergence regions) and 186 regions that have GDP per capita above 75% of the EU average (developed regions). By using panel data analysis, it is confirmed that the absorption of EU funds is conditionally affected by regional economic characteristics. The results of the study contribute to empirical researches on the determinants of regional absorption capacity in the EU and can be important in discussions surrounding Cohesion Policy planning and programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 2014–20 programming period concerning European structural and investment (ESI) funds, the urban dimension has assumed considerable importance within European Union Cohesion Policy. This shift aims at guaranteeing more coherence between European challenges and urban planning, and at using European funding in a more efficient way. The definition and implementation of an urban agenda has become a prerequisite to meet the objectives of sustainable economic development based on an integrated approach to urban policy. From this conceptual perspective, the collaboration and coordination efforts between different levels of government represents a key element. Therefore, the implementation of models of multilevel governance could promote sustainable and socially inclusive growth of European cities, and greater involvement and coordination of urban areas within decision-making processes. This paper addresses the integrated approach to sustainable urban development through a critical analysis of the implementation of integrated territorial investments (ITIs) in the case study of the Sardinian region of Italy to investigate whether ITI could serve as a tool for pursuing/implementing the urban agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite existing policies of regional development and cohesion at the national and the EU level, economic regional inequalities or disparities stay relatively high or decrease too slowly. In this context, policies to reduce economic regional disparities in the European Union are a constant concern both for policy-makers and for theoretical and empirical research because of the strong impact on sustainable development in general. In this study we combine elements of theoretical and policy discussions with the empirical assessment of economic regional development in the European Union in order to identify the state of regional disparities, what factors are favouring unbalanced growth in different regions of the EU and to find an appropriate theoretical setting to understand, explain and reduce with regional inequality in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social entrepreneurship (SE) began to be strongly supported in Central and Eastern European countries during the programming period of 2007–2013. However, the level of SE development still lags behind developed countries. The paper focuses on the identification of barriers to SE development in the Czech Republic and recommendations for policymaking. The value added is the adaptation of the Community of Practice on Inclusive Entrepreneurship methodology and its verification. A limited range of financial support options and a lack of interest of banks to improve the availability of loans were identified as main barriers to the development of SE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Poland joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. By 2007, this had resulted in Poland being the greatest beneficiary of the European cohesion policy due to its low per capita GDP by purchasing power parity at the voivodeship level. The scale of European Structural and Investment Funds brought the possibility for a fundamental acceleration of socio-economic growth in Polish regions. The European Union gradually modified the directions of intervention under the framework of the European cohesion policy, initially orienting this activity principally towards cohesion, but from 2010 directing it mainly towards competitiveness. Of particular significance was the Europe 2020 strategy (2010). In Poland its arrangements were deferred until the signing of the Partnership Agreement for the period 2014-2020, which established extensive support for innovation, competitiveness and the R&D sector. In the final part of the paper, conclusions and recommendations for regional policy are elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The cohesion policy adopted by European Union can not materialize without the existence of structural funds. The economic and social disparities between the member countries of European Union and between the regions of EU, too, is reduce through these instruments. The integration of Romania in European Union in 2007, and the use of structural funds in present and in the future, is an opportunity which contribute at the economic development of our country.

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The problems occurred in accessing European funds are, on the one hand inherited ever since/from the programming period 2007-2013, and on the other hand are linked to the slow evolution of the development and modernization of Romania's administrative infrastructure. Outlining the problems identified has the aim of boosting the correcting of them in the context in which the lack of European financing in economy and administration increases the gap to the Western European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional issues, by their nature and content, vary widely from one country to another, being the result of specific conditions and factors that characterize each state. As a result, their resolution, in addition to common elements, has many features, both in terms of regional policy objectives, organizational means and spatial structure, zoning and / or regionalization of territory, to create the framework necessary to materialize and implement these objectives . Regional development policy is one of the most important policies of the European Union. At the same time, this socio-economic cohesion policy is one of the most complex in the whole spectrum of Community policies as it interacts with a number of sectoral areas such as agriculture, transport, economic development, environmental protection, employment and vocational training , equal opportunities and gender Thus, regional development policy is indispensable for the achievement of the Union's constitution and activity objectives. Cohesion policy (Dragan G., 2003) includes both regional policy (geared to reducing territorial disparities, regenerating declining industrial areas, providing rural development assistance), social policy issues (such as combating long-term unemployment and supporting the process education and lifelong learning) as well as a part of the common agricultural policy (rural development assistance). Article 174 (ex Article 158 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (consolidated version) refers to the harmonious development of the whole of the Union, which is achieved through its actions designed to strengthen its economic, social and territorial cohesion, in particular, to reduce disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of disadvantaged regions, including rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically, a state's regional development strategy represents that set of measures that are adopted and implemented by that state's central and/or local institutions respectively together with other public or private factors that are directly interested, in order to ensure economic, social, cultural and territorial development, by efficient use of local and national resources. It has to be mentioned that a regional development strategy has as final purpose the reducing of economic, social, cultural and territorial disparities, respectively the realization of economic convergence. Taking into account the ideas presented above and Romania's current context, as a member state of the European Union, in the present study we wanted to make an analysis on Romania's regional development strategy, in correlation with the European Union's cohesion policy, emphasizing the analysis of the eight development regions in Romania and the strategy development trends in programming period 2014-2020. Thus, we will try to highlight, in the present study, the aspects surveyed in Romania's regional development strategy within period 2014-2020, that will contribute to the elimination or, at least, the decrease of those substantial economic, social, territorial disparities that exist among the internal regions in Romania and between Romania and other member states of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the European Union as a laboratory to study how ‘spatially targeted’ policies (i.e. the European Union Cohesion and Rural Development Policies) interact with sectoral ‘spatially blind’ policies (i.e. the Common Agricultural Policy), jointly shaping regional growth dynamics. The analysis of the drivers of regional growth shows that the European Union Cohesion Policy has a positive influence on economic growth in all regions. However, its impact is stronger in the most socio-economically advanced areas and is maximised when its expenditure is complemented by Rural Development and Common Agricultural Policy funds. The top-down funding of the Common Agricultural Policy seems to be able to concentrate some benefits in the most deprived areas of the Union. This suggests that bottom-up policies are not always the best approach to territorial cohesion. Top-down policies may – in some cases – be effective in order to channel resources to the most socio-economically deprived areas. Territorial cohesion requires the flexible integration and coordination of both bottom-up and top-down approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to introduce the evaluation of convergence of Latvia's social development to the EU-28 member states in the context of the EU convergence policy. In additional, the article addresses development challenges for improvement of the socio-economic well-being of states and regions in the European Union and also for avoiding disparities. The objective of this study is to assess the level of social situation in Latvia and its development by applying latest developments of convergence economic theory to local conditions. The main emphasis of this research lies on the complex approach to the EU convergence policy analysis and its implementation in Latvia, which enables social convergence of Latvia towards the EU-28 level. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the EU convergence economic theories and on the estimation of external and induced variables: the economic and welfare level situations. This research investigates major variable factors and presents information about various socio-economic indicators and indexes. This study contains and discusses changes of key concepts related to the convergence policy of the European Union and compares objectives and general outlines of the convergence period 2014-2020 in the framework of Europe as a whole, as well as its impact on Latvian economics and living conditions. The main results and conclusions reflect the overall socio-economic situation in the EU and Latvia and the impact of current and future European convergence policy on social development in Latvia. The discussion focuses on the analysis of socio-economic situation in the EU and Latvia and the estimation and trends of the national economy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking into account recent literature on economic growth, we focus on analyzing the extent to which metropolitan regions (NUTS3 urban predominant regions), as growth poles, especially from Romania and from EU member states and regions with similar levels of development, contribute to economic growth, from the perspective of employment-related issues. We place our analysis in the context of Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and of the urban dimension of the EU regional policies. The variables included refer to labor market indicators, in conjunction with demographic data, from Eurostat, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the contribution of growth poles to the overall development of country, in comparison with the capital region, the national average and EU27 average. The selection of growth poles from countries with similar levels of development as Romania is based on previous research results of cluster analysis for year 2010, conducted using headline indicators of Europe 2020 strategy and GDP per head, for country level, and cohesion policy indicators, for NUTS2 regional level, looking for possible overlaps of the country and regional clustering that include Romanian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present research fallows up the objective of cohesion policy of the European Union, conversely the elimination, or the mitigation of those differences in the regional economic, social and territorial EU level and in each member state. One of the main objectives is to show the degree of achieving the logic of the intervention financed by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is one of the main instruments of European funds. Therefore, the three authors have proposed to highlight the influence that the Regional Operational Programme generated in the 2007-2013 programming period among the tourism development of Romania in this period. This is one of the areas with great economic strengths and development potential, which according to the authors could contribute to Romania's economic growth as well as its sustainable economic development, along with agriculture, industry, etc. In this article, the authors proposed to attempt the following goals in this research: the potential of tourism in Romania focusing on economic and geographical criteria, impact analysis of Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013 regarding the Romanian tourism, development trends of tourism in Romania in 2014-2020 focusing on the role of European funds to be granted by the Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020, etc.It is noted that the analysis in this article has been done taking into account the literature of existing economic theories and legislative framework and regulations (including guideline programs, development strategies, etc.) regarding tourism in Romania on financing through European funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is one of the most prosperous and competitive areas in the world, both in terms of economic development, as well as potential for development. However, disparities in wealth and productivity of the Member States and their regions represent a major structural weakness. The EU Cohesion Policy is a policy of major importance for the states and the regions of the EU because it was built to support the internal cohesion of the EU. It was aimed at ensuring a sustainable and peaceful development of the Member States. The creation of the policy is closely linked to the birth of the EU which was established by the Treaty of Maastricht, 1992. This treaty, that marked the birth of the EU, established cohesion as a major objective of the EU for the first time, and worked towards achieving this important objective by assigning it a policy, the Cohesion Policy of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural and cohesion funds are considered an attractive instrument for the funding of investments opportunities especially in times of crisis when the private investments are reduced. Nevertheless, they have not been factually highlighted in order to empirically document the role of European funds in supporting the short-term economic growth, at macroeconomic level. The target of absorbing as much European financial non-refundable aid requires constant efforts made by the member states and administration authorities, the involvement of regional and local public administrations in each stage of the process, as well as an appropriate capacity of institutional structures and management and control systems, they being basic premises of this objective achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is presenting partnership principle in the context of cohesion policy (regional policy). The conceptualization of this principle is useful for increasing the performance of the programs using management strategies. The article follows a series of articles that explores the importance of partnership in projects within cohesion policy. Also the article is highlighting the feedback of interviewed from different countries regarding the importance of the partnership in the performance of their projects and some of the good practices presented in the European code of conduct on partnership applicable in the period 2014- 2020. The theories and the lessons presented are also applicable to other aspects referring to management, development and regional planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]