Reinventing Cohesion: The Future of European Structural Policy (2003:17)
This study questions three key assumptions underlying EU Structural Policy by contending, that the regional disparities in EU15 are much smaller than they are normally reported to be; that Structural Policy interventions have a very limited impact on convergence; and that convergence has a very limited impact on cohesion.
Three options to the current policy framework merit serious discussion: One is renationalisation. A second option is reallocation within the EU budget in favour of currently underfunded policy areas, such as internal security, research, risk surveillance and external relations. A third option is a radical reform of Structural Policy, discarding the intermediate objective of convergence but giving greater emphasis to the ultimate goal of cohesion. Under this formula, support would have a trans-national dimension.
Rapporten presenterades vid seminariet Strukturpolitiken och ingår i forskningsprojektet EU:s regionalpolitik.