The aim of this article is to analyse the role of European cohesion policy (ECP) in tackling the negative effects of climate change, and to answer the research question of whether a just transition ...towards climate neutrality is possible. The study comprised an analysis of data about ECP spending, literature review of relevant regulatory documents, studies and reports. The results of this research suggest that the issue of climate change mitigation has been placed among key priorities of ECP since 2014. This conclusion is supported by a comprehensive set of data. The results confirm that the EU funds constitute an important source of climate related investments in Poland. The design of ECP and its instruments, if used appropriately, can help to make the “green transition” more fair.
Under which conditions is EU Cohesion Policy effective? Which are those 'conditioning factors' that help in explaining where, when, and how the Cohesion Policy is effective? This article adopts an ...Hirschmanian approach to argue that that the institutional characteristics of domestic authorities involved in the management of funds, as well as the decisions of policy makers, represent the key factors for understanding the effects of the Cohesion Policy in European regions. By using Cohesion Policy implementation in Italy and Spain as a pilot study, this article empirically investigates the interaction of three different types of factors (institutional, strategic related to the types of investments made, and administrative), and elaborates an original framework for comparing different Cohesion Policy implementations, and existing studies analyzing the impact of the Cohesion Policy. The framework presented in this article could be extended to other European countries by political scientists who are interested in studying the Cohesion Policy as a case of development policy.
Abstract
European Cohesion Policy is a complex scheme that allocates financial resources to European regions. The implementation of the policy is based on an articulated multi-level governance that ...involves local and national authorities and the European Commission. Local authorities often face difficulties in using structural funds due to limits in their administrative capacity (supply) and/or inefficiencies in adequately stimulating applications’ submission (demand). By modelling and simulating the implementation of the policy, we explore how operations and decisions at the local authorities’ and potential applicants’ level (micro-foundations) explain emerging patterns of funds’ absorption at a regional level (macro-behaviours). Building upon a mixed-methods approach combining field research and computer simulation, we develop a model capturing the key cause–effect relationships among agents and resources within the Cohesion Policy supply-and-demand system. The outcomes elucidate how poor local administrative capabilities, including staff skills, may entail delays and low absorption performances, while showcasing the factors affecting potential applicants’ decision to submit.
The European Social Progress Index (EU-SPI) is a composite index launched by the European Commission in 2016 to assess social progress. It is constructed using non-economic indicators, and is ...intended to serve as a tool for European regional policies. This paper shows that the 2020 release of the index is robust to multiple alternative designs, and thus suitable for policymaking. The EU-SPI and gross domestic product per capita (GDPpc) are positively correlated, although they are in no way substitutes. These findings suggest that the EU-SPI could complement the GDPpc as an instrument to determine eligibility and achieve a more citizen-oriented allocation of European Cohesion Policy funds.
•Despite continuous Cohesion Policy implementation, citizens’ policy awareness declines.•Due to missing explanation, an original explanatory system dynamics model is built.•The model integrates the ...decay of collective attention with the individual tendency to forget.•The two mechanisms' combination explicates different countries' awareness behaviour.•The developed model provides policy-making insights and supports policy communication.
Since more than thirty years, the European Cohesion Policy aims to reduce economic disparities and support regional development by funding local-orientated projects. However, the citizens’ awareness of Cohesion Policy follows an unexpected longitudinal pattern characterised by a notable decrease after an initial increase. Although researchers have been investigating the relationship between policy implementation and public awareness, a lack of systemic comprehension of the underlying mechanisms is evident. Using system dynamics, we develop a causal model to explain the roots of the declining awareness towards policy interventions. The findings highlight how citizens initially manifest a high collective attention to Cohesion Policy that tends to decay over time. These dynamics, combined with the citizens’ inherent tendency to lose information saved in their long-term individual memory, could elucidate the system's behaviour. This novel system dynamics application provides policy-makers with operational guidelines for developing efficient communication strategies to improve policy awareness.
European cohesion policy can in some ways be seen as a spatial justice policy in the sense of solidarity between rich and poor regions, yet European debates often raise harshly the question of the ...link between solidarity and efficiency. This paper questions this policy in the context of the preparation of the 2021-27 program, which is also that of two close global crises. Using the grey literature, it is mainly based on the Italian case, emblematic of the crisis of solidarity between North and South, which questions today the ability of the European project to combine market, regional development and solidarity. Tackling cohesion in the light of the concept of spatial justice highlights the importance of issues of scale and in particular the difficult articulation between national and european policies. The evolution of the stakes (competitiveness-effectiveness vs. solidarity) and of the territorial priorities (inter-regional vs. intra-regional and urban disparities) of the cohesion policy questions its purpose even though it remains a major topic for a European project in crisis.
This paper discusses the effects of European Union (EU) funds on gross domestic product growth by analysing the causal impact of regional absorption speed. The analysis is conducted using a ...regression discontinuity design approach with heterogeneous treatment on NUTS-2 regions during the period 2000-16. We show that faster absorption of EU funds in the Objective 1 regions, especially the Mediterranean ones, is associated with worse economic outcomes from the Objective 1 treatment. However, this pattern is not observed in the non-treated regions. Regarding policy implications, this study suggests that incentives to increase absorption speeds should be removed in Objective 1 regions.
Place-based strategies are widely discussed as powerful instruments of economic and community development. In terms of the European debate, the local level – cities, towns and neighbourhoods – has ...recently come under increased scrutiny as a potentially decisive actor in Cohesion Policy. As understandings of socio-spatial and economic cohesion evolve, the idea that spatial justice requires a concerted policy response has gained currency. Given the political, social and economic salience of locale, this book explores the potential contribution of place-based initiative to more balanced and equitable socio-economic development, as well as growth in a more general sense. The overall architecture of the book and the individual chapters address place-based perspectives from a number of vantage points, including the potential of achieving greater effectiveness in EU and national level development policies, through a greater local level and citizens' role and concrete actions for achieving this; enhancing decision-making autonomy by pooling local capacities for action; linking relative local autonomy to development outcomes and viewing spatial justice as a concept and policy goal. The book highlights, through the use of case studies, how practicable and actionable knowledge can be gained from local development experiences. This book targets researchers, practitioners and students who seek to learn more about place-based based development and its potentials. Its cross-cutting focus on spatial justice and place will ensure that the book is of wider international interest.
This article examines which economic domains regional policy makers aim to develop in regional innovation strategies, focusing in particular on the complexity of those economic domains and their ...relatedness to other economic domains in the region. We build on the economic geography literature that advises policy makers to target related and complex economic domains, and assess the extent to which regions actually do this. The article draws on data from the smart specialization strategies of 128 NUTS-2 regions across Europe. While regions are more likely to select complex economic domains related to their current economic domain portfolio, complexity and relatedness figure independently, rather than in combination, in choosing priorities. We also find that regions in the same country tend to select the same priorities, contrary to the idea of a division of labor across regions that smart specialization implies. Overall, these findings suggest that smart specialization may be considerably less place based in practice than it is in theory. There is a need to develop better tools to inform regions' priority choices, given the importance of priority selection in smart specialization strategies and regional innovation policy more broadly.
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Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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