EU Cohesion Policy Research Articles

Applying integrated, spatial tools in the framework of the EU cohesion policy (2014-2020)

Applying integrated, spatial tools in the framework of the EU cohesion policy (2014-2020)

European Union Cohesion Policy: Socio-Economic Vulnerability of the Regions and the COVID-19 Shock

The European Union Cohesion Policy for the period 2021–2027 focuses on five goals to make the European Union smarter, greener, more connected, more social and closer to citizens. However, a macroeconomic index is proposed as the predominant criterion for allocating the Structural Funds among regions. In this paper, we hypothesise that it is possible to take into account new, complementary criteria that better reflect citizens’ quality of life. To that end, we build a composite index of socio-economic vulnerability for the 233 regions. The results show that following our multidimensional approach for allocating the Structural Funds, there are remarkable differences in the maps of priority regions. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic represents a threat to well-being. Are all regions equally exposed to COVID-19 in terms of their socio-economic vulnerability? To address this issue, we estimate multilevel models which indicate that country characteristics interact with regions’ characteristics to alter patterns of vulnerability. More specifically, increases in government expenditures in education and an improvement in political stability would reduce the regional vulnerability or foster the capacity for resilience, whereas increases in poverty would be associated with greater vulnerability. Likewise, more vulnerable regions would be the most exposed to the negative socio-economic effects of COVID-19. However, it is remarkable that several regions of Sweden and Finland would be among the group of regions whose socio-economic vulnerability would be the most negatively affected.

Measuring territorial cohesion trends in Europe: a correlation with EU Cohesion Policy

ABSTRACT Territorial cohesion is a formal EU policy goal since 2010, when it was placed in the Lisbon Treaty, alongside the long-term EU goals of economic and social cohesion. Understandably, by itself, a policy goal is irrelevant if it cannot be assessed. In this light, this article discusses potential methodological approaches to measure territorial cohesion trends in a given territory, their advantages and limitations, based on existing literature. It uses European NUTS 2 and the Portuguese and Polish NUTS 3 as concrete case studies to assess territorial cohesion trends from 2005 to 2020 via a Territorial Cohesion Index. As such, it presents an updated and unique picture on the territorial cohesion trends in Europe and in two specific EU member states, based on available data. It concludes that measuring territorial cohesion trends is challenging mainly due to lack of available data in certain key dimensions of territorial cohesion, but it is possible and needed.

EU Cohesion Policy in the Czech Republic and Poland: Comparison of Intervention Areas Among Regions

The cohesion policy of the European Union represents a significant part of its budget and delivers interventions across all regions of the EU. There is little consensus on its efficiency, and its links to fostering convergence on the regional level are uncertain. Nevertheless, regions were shown to benefit from policy interventions promoting their growth and development. The main objective of the policy is to reduce regional disparities that exist among lagging and other, more developed regions. Therefore, this paper focuses on the deliverance of the cohesion policy in Central and Eastern European countries, Poland and the Czech Republic. It explores the support of thematic interventions across its regions in the 2014-2020 period. Findings point out different thematic support of Polish regions according to their relative advancement. Lagging regions of Poland received more substantial support related to promoting the endogenous potential for development and increase in quality of human capital. In contrast, the Czech regions were treated comparably regardless of their development stages. This points to different approaches to implementing the cohesion policy in these countries

The Impacts of EU Cohesion Policy on Sustainable Tourism: The Case of POSEUR in Algarve

Sustainable tourism is a main priority of European Union policies, with the aim of mitigating the potential harmful consequences of this sector on a given territory. The main research goal of this article is to better understand the impact of the public investments financed via EU Cohesion Policy in the tourism sector in the Portuguese Algarve NUT2. This paper focuses on the Portuguese Operational Programme for Sustainability and Efficient Use of Resources (POSEUR 20142020), which was an operational programme of a Portuguese framework to implement EU Cohesion Policy funds in Portugal between 2014 and 2020, and was specifically focused on supporting sustainable development processes. The sustainability performance of POSEUR in the Algarve was evaluated in five different dimensions of analysis: (1) low-emissions economy, (2) adaptation to climate change, (3) risk prevention and management, (4) environmental protection, and (5) resource efficiency. The results showed that POSEUR had a low impact in almost all dimensions in the Algarve, apart from the adaptation to climate change dimension, which exhibits a high impact score, mostly due to the support given for carrying out the Plans for Adaptation to Climate Change (PAAC).

Making the EU cohesion policy work to support exports at time of Covid-19: Evidence on the Italian regions

This study investigates regional trade resilience and the role of the EU cohesion policy to support exports during the first wave of the Covid-19 crisis. We compare regional export resilience during the pandemic shock and the Great Recession in order to find possible similar patterns. We also use panel estimates obtained for the years of the Great Recession to construct regional trade adjustment scenarios at time of Covid-19. Our results suggest that the main adverse consequences of the first wave of the pandemic crisis on regional exports are localised in the regions that show high integration in international global value chains, and high exposure to tourism activities. We also find that the drop in regional exports observed during the first wave of the Covid-19 shock can be limited if more EU funds are timely transferred to beneficiaries. We develop different trade adjustment scenarios to account for heterogeneity among the Italian regions and specific characteristics of the Covid-19 crisis. The main policy implications of our study are finally discussed.

Administrative capacity and the territorial effects of EU support to firms: a two-step analysis

ABSTRACT This paper investigates whether territorial characteristics and, in particular, regional administrative capacity influence the effects of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy support to firms. A novel two-step methodology is applied. First, the effects of Cohesion Policy on employment growth of supported manufacturing firms are estimated separately for the regions of six different EU countries. Second, potential territorial factors influencing these effects are explored using meta-analysis techniques. The empirical results point to a significant relationship between firm-level policy effects and territorial capital, especially mixed-materiality assets, as well as administrative capacity as proxied by citizen engagement and administrative efficiency.

“Emptied Spain” and the limits of domestic and EU territorial mobilisation

The term “España Vaciada” has recently been coined to define the long-term trend of depopulation in Spain´s inland areas. It has gained traction as it spilled over from a local issue to the national agenda. At the same time, the European Union has made steps to give greater prevalence to the topic of demographic decline. This article maps out and provides a narrative of the failed attempts of territorial mobilisation around this issue since 2016. It examines a number of territorial actors as they try to are shape both Spain´s Demographic strategy against demographic decline as well as their rent-seeking efforts towards EU Cohesion Policy post 2020 by way of maps and a novel definition. They try to address the same territorial challenge, the growing depopulation of vast areas of inland Spain, but are unable to coalesce around common solutions due to their different priorities and approaches.

Cohesion Policy, tourism and culture in Italy: a regional policy evaluation

ABSTRACT European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy aims to reduce regional disparities between countries. The tourism sector has played a strategic role in this policy in the last years. The 2007–13 period developed a new vision focused on the link between tourism and enhancing cultural and natural resources. This paper evaluates this policy by analysing whether EU funds have positively impacted tourism and culture. The synthetic control method is used for 20 NUTS-2 Italian regions in the period 1998–2018. We identify regions exposed to the ‘convergence’ objective as treated units and regions not exposed as counterfactual. Results show positive effects on culture.

The quality of government and administrative performance: explaining Cohesion Policy compliance, absorption and achievements across EU regions

ABSTRACT Does the quality of government improve the administrative performance of regions in European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy? This article analyses the relationship between the quality of government and multiple dimensions of administrative performance in Cohesion Policy. Using primary data on government quality combined with EU performance data for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the period 2007–13, regression analysis is undertaken for 173 European regions. The results confirm that government quality is a key determinant of administrative performance in terms of financial compliance, timely spending and outcomes. The findings support the need for capacity-building in regions with low quality of government to improve policy implementation.

'Quality of life' concept in Cohesion Policy evaluation in Poland, 2004–2020

Quality of life (QoL) is a fashionable concept widely used not only in many scientific fields but also in strategic documents, political speeches, and newspaper headlines. Although QoL is a crucial element of political agendas and a goal of public policies, there is little evidence on how this concept has been incorporated in policy analysis and evaluation. This study presents how the QoL has so far been defined, contextualised, and measured in the European Union Cohesion Policy evaluation in Poland, based on the analysis of 1431 evaluation reports for the period 2004–2020. The findings show that the interest in the QoL is growing, and almost one-third of reports refer to the term. However, the concept is usually not clearly defined, and the number of evaluations with actual questions concerning QoL is limited. Moreover, the methodological approach to QoL measurement is rudimentary, limited to surveys of beneficiaries or end-users.

Fostering Innovation in Romania. Insights from the Smart Specialization Strategies

Abstract Innovation has invariably been a precursor to development and competitiveness, while creating (at least temporary) barriers to differentiate between its leaders and its laggards. Although Europe is ranked the second most innovative region in the world, the EU faces a significant innovation divide, that is attenuating its footprint on the global competitiveness arena and weakening its mission of enhancing the wellbeing of all Europeans. The EU’s goal of the twin (green and digital) transition brings innovation (in its broadest sense) in the spotlight, while the EU Cohesion Policy (aiming to remedy the disparities between countries and regions) heavily relies on the smart specialization strategy as main methodology for reinforcing national and regional innovation eco-systems. In this context, the objectives of the paper are: (1) to explore Romania’s innovation performance (and profile over time) within the EU and identify the strengths and weaknesses of Romania’s innovation ecosystem – based on the analysis of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) data; (2) to examine and assess how Romania and its eight development regions address the innovation challenges through their smart specialization strategies 2021(2)-2027 – based on the content analysis of the (national and regional) S3s using QDA Miner v6.0.

The Europeanization of territoriality and its limits: the territorial dimension of EU cohesion policy and its varying implementation

ABSTRACT In the framework of the territorial dimension of EU cohesion policy, the European Commission has been offering the establishment of functional regions. The response at the member state level has been very diverse, though. Whereas some states have established ‘new regions’, others have been reluctant to do so. The article argues that states and/or regions may veto the Europeanization process on the grounds of protecting their territoriality. More specifically, it avers that the more money is allocated in the member state and the less the cities are dominated by the regions, the higher the chance of differential empowerment of cities.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODEL TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF INFRASTRUCTURE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CONVERGENCE

Core infrastructure, which covers transportation, information and communication (ICT), energy, water and sanitation systems, plays a significant role in economic growth. The development of core infrastructure – one of the European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy (CP) priorities – is heavily funded. However, it remains unclear whether these investments achieve the main aim, i.e. contribute to economic growth and convergence between EU countries and especially regions. A theoretical model addressing the identified issues is needed to assess the impact of infrastructure on economic growth and convergence comprehensively and as accurately as possible. To reach this aim, first, we have disclosed the definition of infrastructure and its structure. Also, we discussed different approaches to the relationship between infrastructure and economic growth. We developed a theoretical model for evaluating infrastructure impact on economic growth and convergence. Moreover, based on the neoclassical approach, we specified an econometric model that includes indicators of different types of infrastructure and assessed growth and convergence outcomes of infrastructure development. Even though we find that infrastructure positively affects growth and convergence, the estimated impact is not statistically significant except for some types of ICT and transport infrastructure.

INNOVATION AGENDA OF COHESION POLICY: CONTRADICTIONS IN IMPLEMENTATION AND THE WAYS TO RESOLVE THEM

Topicality. The aim of the Cohesion Policy, founded by the European Union (EU) in the 1980s, is to help peripheral regions lagging in terms of economic development to achieve higher growth rates than developed regions to establish economic balance. As specified by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the key factor for economic growth in a globalized, competitive environment is the ability to innovate. The EU's Lisbon Agenda, announced in 2000 in response to the challenges of globalization, aims to increase social and economic cohesion by making Europe the world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy. Since then, the innovation component has become a key element of EU cohesion policy, strengthening its competitiveness in a globalized environment.The formation of a cohesive state in the social, humanitarian, economic, environmental, security, and spatial dimensions is the first strategic goal of the State Strategy for Regional Development of Ukraine for 2021-2027. According to it the formation of regional economic systems should be based on “cohesion”, “competitiveness” and building effective “multilevel governance” principles. Stimulation of innovation should become a key direction in building competitive regional economic systems.At the same time, the practice of implementing EU cohesion policy on an innovation basis has revealed some "tension between competitiveness and cohesion goals", increasing the competitiveness of more developed regions, which is conditioned by their ability to benefit more from innovation than peripheral regions.Aim and tasks. The article aims to investigate the innovation agenda of cohesion policy, the contradictions of its implementation, and to substantiate the ways to solve them in Ukrainian realities.Research results. The innovation component of EU cohesion policy has evolved from measures to stimulate the production and cooperation activities of firms, including the establishment and innovation (2000-2006 budget period), the formation of regional innovation systems (2007-2013), the elaboration of smart specialization strategies for research and innovation, which have become a prerequisite for receiving financial support from the European Structural and Investment Funds for each region (2014-2020 and 2021-2027).Ukrainian regions show significant differences in levels of innovation development compared to European regions, as well as compared with each other within Ukraine. The achievement of “cohesion” and “competitiveness” goals outlined in the State Strategy for Regional Development of Ukraine for 2021-2027, on our opinion, may become possible only by moving away from the linear models and methodology that are based on redistribution mechanisms of cohesion policy and substantiation of policy mechanisms grounded on interactive models, such as activation of interregional innovation cooperation and formation of regional innovation ecosystems.Instruments to ensure the cohesion of Ukrainian regions with EU regions are considered. Particular attention is paid to the smart specialization platform instrument with an emphasis on the interregional innovation cooperation mechanism.Conclusion. Today, the thematic area of innovation is a key priority of the Cohesion Plan. The implementation of the innovation agenda in cohesion policy is a crucial and at the same time quite difficult task. The conflict between the goals of cohesion and competitiveness can be resolved only based on abandoning linear redistributive mechanisms in favor of interactive tools, one of which is to stimulate interregional innovation cooperation. Joining the regions of Ukraine to the EU's Smart Specialization Platform can be one of the effective tools for cohesion with European regions on an innovative basis.

Territorial cohesion, the COVID-19 crisis and the urban paradox

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn due to the lockdown of economic activities have spurred a lively debate concerning their effects across locations in the EU and the resulting challenges to territorial cohesion policy. The COVID-19 emergency not only has provoked EU cohesion policy responses but also may change some of the basic principles on which these policies have been built. This paper briefly casts light on some present and future implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for two fundamental aspects of territorial cohesion policy, namely urbanization and economic agglomeration. Both aspects are linked to territorial cohesion's significant dimension of polycentricity (as balanced and harmonious development), and together they constitute a challenge to established norms of urban agglomeration. Finally, the paper discusses some policy ideas that have recently (re)appeared on the European policy landscape. Such policy options bring together urban development and regional policy agendas with the aim of promoting territorial cohesion by attempting to solve the `urban paradox' - the coexisting positive and negative effects of urban agglomeration and its established geography.

Inclusive Europe: the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on immigrants’ economic integration in Italy

By examining the impacts of the Cohesion Policy on immigrants’ economic integration, this study provides evidence on how the European Union promotes inclusion. Focusing on Italian municipalities, we estimate the causal effects of immigrant-related projects on the wage gap between natives and immigrants during the 2007–2018 period. We find a significant decrease in the average wage gap of approximately 7.6%. Specifically, Cohesion Policy played a positive role in immigrant economic inclusion through interventions targeted at supporting the employment and mobility of workers. For the inclusive dimension of the Next Generation EU program, this is key evidence to start with.

The European Union's cohesion policy for the years 2021-2027 in Poland in the face of the fourth industrial revolution

Purpose of the study: The article aims to present the direction of the European Union’s cohesion policy in the years 2021-2027 in Poland in the face of the challenges posed by the fourth industrial revolution.
 Methodology: In the first stage, the analysis and synthesis of the views included in the literature regarding the fourth industrial revolution were made. In the next stage, the most important challenges to public policies in the analysed sphere were presented. The second part of the work analyzes the draft partnership agreement for the implementation of the cohesion policy for the years 2021-2027 in the context of the challenges posed by the fourth industrial revolution.
 Main Findings: The fourth industrial revolution is an ongoing, changing process, which soon will become a challenge in the public policy sphere. The cohesion policy, being the axis of development policies in particular member states of the European Union, includes these changes' assumptions through the support of technological development and changes in the socio-economic structure.
 Applications of this study: The results of this research allow us to decide on the effectiveness of strategic planning and its compatibility with the predicted trends of socio-economic evolution. They also allow verifying the assumptions of the cohesion policy on the regional level.
 The originality of this study: In the following paper, the research on the assumptions of the cohesion policy in the face of the new challenges of the fourth industrial revolution was made. It is worth highlighting that this sphere of the new perspective of the cohesion policy - due to the fact that it is still being shaped- has not been a research subject yet.

EUROPEAN UNION INVESTMENT IN THE BALTIC STATES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The article analyses determinants of foreign investment based on EU Cohesion Policy instruments. The research problem outlines the determinants of attracting EU investment in the Baltic states. The aim of this article is to compare EU investment in the Baltic states. SPSS software has been used for statistical surveys. The model of multiple progression has been developed for identifying the influence of investment environment factors on EU investment in the Baltic states. This methodology may be applied in the countries that seek to attract EU investment. The research has found that the market size, average salary and tax burden have a major influence on EU investment. .

Renewable energy sources in transnational cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region

The implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region has made the use of renewable energy sources a priority. The Region has always been economically and ecologically very diverse. The development of transnational cooperation became an opportunity to bridge the existing disparities and support renewable energy development. The aim of the article is to answer the question how the transnational cooperation implemented under the EU Cohesion Policy could contribute to BSR energy transition. The authors elaborated a research model, which presents a sequence of activities. The research used secondary sources, including KEEP data. EU. EUROSTAT, EUSBSR. The article examined the cooperation carried out within 41 projects financed under seven territorial cooperation programs in the BSR in the period 2000-2020. The research results are presented in terms of the subject, subject and space with the visualization made on the basis of NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 units