SME’s competitiveness as the ERDF’s priority for the support of regional development – evaluation of the Polish experience

Abstract

Purpose: The development and competitiveness of regions constitutes one of the most crucial areas of the intervention of the European Union’s structural funds. Aid to SME’s and increasing their competitiveness constitute one of the main priorities of supporting the development of individual regions. The aim of the article is to summarize and evaluate Polish experiences in the use of EU funds for the needs of increasing the competitiveness of the SME sector. Design/methodology/approach: The paper features an analysis of literature concerning the structural funds with a particular focus on the European Regional Development Fund. Additionally, the author analysed the provisions of basic strategic documents, which contain the assumptions for the implementation of the cohesion policy in Polish regions in subsequent EU budget periods over the course of 2004-2020. Findings: Poland as well as its regions have been the beneficiaries of the EU cohesion policy for nearly twenty years, preparing strategic documents and managing aid received from the structural funds during three subsequent periods: 2004-2006, 2007-2013 and 2014-2020. For almost two decades a system of support and the implementation of its major priorities was created at a national and regional level, stipulated in operational programmes and implemented by institutions equipped with suitable competences. Originality/value: The paper is an attempt at summarising Polish experiences in using the ERDF’s aid for the purpose of raising the competitiveness of the entities in the SME sector, which was to constitute one of the main priorities of improving the competitiveness and growth of Polish regions. Keywords: Structural funds, development of regions, competitiveness of the regions, European Regional Development Fund, SME’s competitiveness. Category of the paper: research paper, viewpoint.