GOOD PRACTICES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COHESION POLICY: THE CASE OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
GOOD PRACTICES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COHESION POLICY: THE CASE OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Author(s): Adina Dornean, ISABELA-FLORENTINA IRIMIA
Subject(s): Economic history, Economic policy, Comparative politics, Present Times (2010 - today), EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: Editura Universităţii »Alexandru Ioan Cuza« din Iaşi
Keywords: cohesion policy; European Structural and Investments (ESI) Funds; Central and Eastern European countries; absorption rate;
Summary/Abstract: The EU enlargement process is accompanied by a series of differences between EU member states regarding economic development. In this context, the efficient implementation of cohesion policy has become more necessary in order to reduce the disparities between countries and between different areas and regions in the same country. This paper aims to analyze the effects of cohesion policy in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries for the 2014-2020 programming. Based on the data provided by the European Com-mission, the Romanian Fiscal Council, Eurostat and Cohesion Open Data Platform, we investigate the impact of the cohesion policy by analyzing the use of European Structural and Investments (ESI) Funds, the member states capacity to attract and retain the ESI Funds, including the absorption rate in general, but also in an economic environment affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research showed that the impact of cohesion policy has proven to be positive in the analyzed countries, with positive results in the field of infrastructure, research and innovation, education, health, environment and the competitiveness of SMEs. These positive results also led to a continuous increase of GDP per capita throughout the 2014-2020 programming period.

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