19 March 2011
The Future of EU Cohesion Policy in a Time of Austerity
A paper presented at an international conference in Vilnius in March 2011.
Abstract: Unlike the single European market and the single currency, EU Cohesion Policy – reformed at the end of the 1980s - has never been the subject of as rigorous an investigation about its foundations and implications as the other two policy initiatives. As a result the cycle consisting of design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of cohesion policies shows severe weaknesses, especially at the microeconomic level. In this paper we look at the different issues that influence EU Cohesion Policy, critique the way the policy cycle is implemented in practice, and conclude that a more rigorous approach is needed to justify the interventions in terms of returns to the investments. A shift from output driven implementation to a design and needs oriented implementation is emphasized.