The aim of reducing regional disparities in the European Union is enshrined in the EU Treaty. An important aspect that takes centre stage in discussions on the EU’s so-called cohesion policy is the ranking of the Union’s many regions in terms of their levels of prosperity.

Can organised interests be of help in bringing the EU closer to its citizens? In this SIEPS report the issue is examined by studying the process that produced the new regulatory system for chemicals (REACH). The conclusion is that participation of interest organisations contributed to better and more well-balanced decisions.

The quality of government shows considerable variation within and between EU member states. The authors of this report presents new and unique data of regional differences in the quality of government and a number of conclusions regarding what distinguish regions with high quality of government and low levels of corruption.

The EU’s R&D policy has recently come under the spotlight. It is a central element both in the review of the EU budget and in the so called Europe 2020 strategy, where the goal of increasing the level of investment in R&D in the EU to three percent of GDP is emphasized.

For quite some time now, the EU Member States have tried to mold the EU into a socially more acceptable form. This has largely remained big words and solemn declarations, but the Lisbon Treaty establishes the EU as a social market economy.

The ongoing crisis in the Eurozone has posed particular challenges to the current Polish EU Presidency. Poland, like Sweden, is not a member of the Euro Group and has therefore been excluded from some of the most important decision-making during the second half of 2011.

The Hungarian presidency has faced a series of truly challenging economic and political problems. These include the responses to the economic and financial crises and the uprisings in the Arab world.

As the European sovereign debt crisis deepens, the fiscal resources of the European monetary union seem increasingly inadequate. So far, the euro area policy response has failed to change the market's rather pessimistic expectations.

In response to the financial crisis that erupted in Greece, the European Council decided to amend the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to allow the establishment of a stability mechanism to safeguard the stability of the euro area. This is the first use made of one of the two ‘simplified’ Treaty revision procedures introduced by the Lisbon Treaty.

The EU and other concerned parties are now gathered in Durban in order to try to reach an agreement governing emission reductions after 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires. The EU has been a leading actor in the climate negotiations since the 1992 Rio conference.