The Essence of Unity?
The Historical Evolution and Future Perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the EU
Copyright (c) 2024 Koller Boglárka, Kondor Zsuzsanna
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Absztrakt
The Cohesion Policy of the European Union has a long history in European integration. New enlargement waves, internal and external challenges, economic downturns and other crises have consistently required a redefinition of the goals and instruments of Cohesion Policy. It is primarily recognised as one of the most prominent distributive policies of the EU and one of the largest development policies of the world. The aim of this article is to provide a basis for understanding this complex policy area by offering a historical perspective and outlining the future context and challenges. After establishing a suitable theoretical framework, the evolution of the policy is explained by examining the policy goals and objectives in different integration eras, as well as providing an overview of Cohesion Policy’s role in the EU’s budget. Following a summary of the main management methods, the article assesses the future perspectives of the policy.
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