EU Cohesion policy accounts for a major share of the EU budget and is central to economic and social development in many European countries. This book provides a comprehensive and theoretically-informed analysis of how Cohesion policy has evolved over time, in particular the budgetary and policy dynamics of the 2007-13 reform. In the context of the budgetary politics of the EU, the book examines the process by which the reform of Cohesion policy has been shaped; it identifies the key factors that explain the allocation of funding, assesses the roles of the Member States, European Commission and European Parliament, and tests whether the process and outcome are consistent with the expectations of EU decision-making and integration theories. Based on extensive, EU-wide research over a ten-year period, the book provides new insights into both the process and outcomes of EU policy reform. Presenting original research in an accessible format, this book will be of interest to scholars as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of European integration and policy studies.

Philipp Mohl evaluates the macroeconomic effects of EU Cohesion Policy with the help of empirical methods. His findings indicate that in particular the part of EU Cohesion Policy which is spent for the poorest regions (the so-called Objective 1 funding) has a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth. Moreover, the employment effects of EU Cohesion Policy seem to be conditional on the educational attainment, i.e., in particular regions with a high share of high-skilled population tend to benefit from EU funds. Finally, the author does not find evidence that EU funds significantly increase public investment in the EU countries, which points to a crowding out of national investment. Overall, the gained insights contribute to a more profound understanding of the macroeconomic effects of EU Cohesion Policy, which is essential to design an effective and efficient EU spending system.

How can one convince potent nation-states to put their sovereignty at risk in common European policies? EU cohesion policy, now one-third of the EU budget, provides such a puzzle. Until 1988 the European Commission shared out money to national governments with few strings attached. Since the reform of 1988, national governments are required to negotiate with the Commission and regional authorities on how to use the money. Has this European-wide policy eroded national sovereignty in favour of a stronger role for the Commission and more power for Europe's regions? The first part of the book probes into the policy dynamics at the European level. In the second part, eight country studies evaluate the impact of uniform EU policy on territorial relations by comparing policy making before and after the reform. The concluding section explains persistent variation in EU cohesion decision making and implementation.

This open access book is the result of the 1st International Conference on Evaluating Challenges in the Implementation of EU Cohesion Policy (EvEUCoP 2022). It presents the recent findings, sparks discussion, and reveals new research paths addressing the use of novel methodologies and approaches to tackle the challenges and opportunities that are unveiled with the implementation of the EU cohesion policy. The authors cover a wide range of topics including the monitoring of data; the clearness of indicators in measuring the impact of interventions; novel evaluation methods, addressing the mid-term and terminal assessment; as well as case studies and applications on evaluations of the thematic objectives under the scrutiny of the cohesion policy, namely:• Research, technological development, and innovation; • Information and communication technologies;• Shift toward a low-carbon economy. During the 2014-2020 programmatic period, member states were required to undertake assessments to evaluate the efficacy, efficiency, and impact of each operational program. Such evaluations are generally concerned with the compliance of projects and activities with programmatic priorities, as well as with funds' absorption capacity and refer to ex-ante and ex-post assessments. Hence, this book proposes the use of novel methodologies addressing the mid-term and terminal assessments that enable performing the efficiency appraisal of the operational programs and that can support decision-makers in the selection of projects that should be awarded for funding.

The new EU Cohesion Policy is one of the largest integrated development policies in the Western world, and one of the largest of such programmes anywhere in the world. The reforms to the EU Cohesion Policy contain many different elements each of which interlink in order to provide a cohesive overall framework. Some of the key elements in the reforms, however, relate to the conditionalities employed and their effects on policy governance and the control mechanism, the smart specialization approach to policy prioritization and resource allocation, the underlying place-based logic of the policy, and the overall results orientation and evaluation emphasis of the policy. In each of the areas of the EU Cohesion Policy reforms, many different scholars from the fields of regional studies, regional science and economic geography have played important roles in shaping the new policy, and the chapters here highlight these increasing interactions between the policy and academic spheres of debate. The collection of essays in this book each deal with specific aspects of these critical elements of the Cohesion Policy reforms. In particular, they examine some of the strengths and weaknesses of these individual elements and allowing for a better understanding of the origins and backgrounds of many of the ideas underpinning these reforms. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

The only comprehensive text available for advanced study and professional reference, this book brings much needed clarity to both the theoretical and practical aspects of EU intervention. Integrating both theoretical and practical research in a clear and accessible structure, covering economic, social and territorial issues European Cohesion Policy provides a systematic view of the various stages of the whole policy cycle, looking in detail at: the evolution of the problems the design of the policy system the implementation in practice the evaluation of effects . An authoritative analysis of the problems and debates involved, European Cohesion Policy is essential reading for students, policy makers, development workers and researchers working in all aspects of European policy.

This Handbook covers all major aspects of EU Cohesion policy, one of the most significant areas of intervention of the European Union. Over five parts, It discusses this policy’s history and governing principles; the theoretical approaches from which it can be assessed; the inter-institutional and multi-level dynamics that it tends to elicit; its practical implementation and impact on EU member states; its interactions with other EU policies and strategies; and the cognitive maps and narratives with which it can be associated. An absolute must for all students of the EU.

Despite the non-territorialised strategic goals of the EU 2020 Strategy, the long-term aim of EU Cohesion Policy to promote harmonious development of the European territory – social, economic, and ‘territorial cohesion’ – remains a central goal of achieving a more cohesive EU territory. This book examines the ‘territorial dimension’ of EU Cohesion Policy, specifically assessing territorial impacts at the various spatial levels, engaging theoretically and empirically with the notion and role of the ‘territorial dimension’ within a strongly fragmented EU policymaking process, and examining more generally EU Cohesion Policy, as the main driver of the EU territorial development process. It provides an updated and fresh theoretical discussion on the precise meaning of the ‘territorial dimension’ of policies and the relatively recent EU policy evaluation technique, known as ‘Territorial Impact Assessment’ (TIA). Assessing the history, relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of these procedures, it presents several empirical findings on the implementation of specific territorial-focus and place-based financial instruments, as part of the Territorial Agendas and the EU goal of achieving a more integrated, territorial approach. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of spatial planning and cohesion policy, European sector policies and European spatial planning, and more broadly to European and EU studies/politics, regional economic geography and public policy.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. This book brings together academics, members of European institutions, and regional and national level policymakers in order to assess the performance and direction of EU Cohesion policy against the background of the most significant reforms to the policy in a generation. Responding to past criticisms of the effectiveness of the policy, the policy changes introduced in 2013 have aligned European Structural and Investment Funds with the Europe 2020 strategy and introduced measures to improve strategic coherence, performance and integrated development. EU Cohesion Policy: Reassessing performance and direction argues that policy can only be successfully developed and implemented if there is input from both academics and practitioners. The chapters in the book address four important issues: the effectiveness and impact of Cohesion policy at European, national and regional levels; the contribution of Cohesion policy to the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the importance of quality of government and administrative capacity for the effective management of the Funds; and the inter-relationships between institutions, territory and place-based policies. The volume will be an invaluable resource to students, academics and policymakers across economics, regional studies, European studies and international relations.

This engaging and topical book comprehensively explores the complexities surrounding the EU Cohesion Policy, which has been addressing regional and urban development across Europe since the 1980s. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, it not only considers the goals of this long-term investment policy, which is to reduce territorial disparities between Member States and their regions, but also considers the role it plays in the European integration process and the challenges the EU will face in its future.