The Long Road to a Cohesive Europe.The Evolution of the EU Regional Policy and the Impact of the Enlargements
The Long Road to a Cohesive Europe.The Evolution of the EU Regional Policy and the Impact of the Enlargements

Summary/Abstract: Cohesion policy has become one of the most important activities of the European Union (EU) and attracts more than a third of its budget. By the Structural Funds, the EU seeks to reduce economic and social disparities between the 271 regions of Europe in order to achieve the objective of cohesion. This policy, which had originally a marginal place in the Treaties of Rome, has changed substantially over time as a result of the deepening of the European integration process as well as the effects of the enlargement of the EEC/EU. This article focuses on the salient steps in the evolution of the EU Regional and Cohesion policy by analysing how the different enlargements have been among the determinants of change in this field of action, with a specific attention to the various reforms of the Structural Funds regulations. By changing rules, procedures, types of regional problems and allocation of resources, the implemented reforms have demonstrated the impact the enlargements have had on the Cohesion Policy orientation and reorientation over the time; as well as the severe challenge they have always represented for the entire EU regional equilibrium.

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