Cohesion Policy on the Rocks?

This EPRC paper by Mendez, C., Bachtler, J., and Wishlade, F. deals in a systematic way with:

• The state of play of Cohesion Policy
• The shaping of MFF of the MFF proposals
• The national perspectives on reform
• The EU budget proposals for 2028-2034
• The Cohesion Policy regulatory proposals for 2028-2034

and closes with a discussion on the difficult navigation for Cohesion Policy.

The paper concludes that “Cohesion Policy is now at a critical juncture. The Commission’s proposals place the policy ‘on the rocks’, raising the risk that it becomes a conditional investment tool aligned with EU-wide reforms rather than a long-term place-based strategy for balanced and integrated territorial development anchored in multilevel governance. The outcome of negotiations over the next two years will determine whether Cohesion Policy can be steered in a different direction, reaffirming its core purpose of reducing disparities, or whether it risks centralisation, fragmentation and an erosion of its place-based and redistributive logic in the pursuit of other EU priorities”.

The full paper is available HERE.