EU Cohesion Policy in Eastern and Southern Europe: Taking Stock and Drawing Lessons for the Future

Regions in the EU’s Eastern and Southern peripheries tend to perform badly across many rankings from economic development, to quality of government, social justice and innovation potential, despite the fact that the vast majority of EU structural funding has been spent in these countries. However, the picture is differentiated. These countries followed different development trajectories and reacted differently to the economic crisis. Some of them still struggle, others thrive, others still, after years of structural transformation, are stuck in a middle-income trap. They adopted different strategies under EU Cohesion policy and also followed different Europeanisation pathways. Their experiences, successes and failures are a valuable source of lessons for the future of the policy and for current and prospective candidate countries. While there have been various attempts to learn from others in the policymaking sphere – e.g. in European Territorial cooperation, EU-wide networks (e.g. IQ-Net, ERRIN), or in the context of peer-to-peer and twinning initiatives – academic research has not yet adequately reflected on the lessons that can be drawn from EU Cohesion policy implementation for the future of the policy and future enlargements.

Therefore, during the workshop the following questions will be addressed:

• How have the Europeanisation pathways and the approaches towards regional / Cohesion Policy planning and implementation evolved over time and with what impact in terms of policy performance?
• What is the legacy of EU Cohesion Policy in terms of institutional innovation and administrative capacity-building?
• What are the outcomes in terms of sustainability of the policy’s implementation?
• Which countries and regions are the most/least successful in the implementation of Cohesion Policy and why (what are key-factors of success, what are the barriers)?
• What have been the main territorial impacts from the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy in a given region/country?
• What lessons can be drawn from the successes and failures of Cohesion Policy in the Eastern, South Eastern, and Southern periphery and to what extent can these lessons be applied to candidate countries?
• What have been the main results/impacts from the implementation of the European Territorial Cooperation in a given cross-border/transnational region?
• What can EU regions learn from the candidate countries in terms of joint projects executed mainly through cross-border cooperation or under Instrument for Pre-Accession?
• What is the role of EU funding for the Eastern, South Eastern, and Southern regions in shaping European identities and perceptions of the European integration?
• What lessons can be drawn from the experience of the main recipients of EU funds for Cohesion Policy after 2020?

Practical information

• Participation in the event is free of charge.
• Venue: Poznań University of Economics and Business, Al. Niepodległości 10, 61-875 Poznań, Poland (map).
• Participants not presenting papers are welcome, but will need to register.
• Lunch, refreshments and beverages will be provided and the speakers will be invited to workshop dinner after the event.
• Thanks to the financial support from the RSA we will be able to offer several travel bursaries for attending the workshop. Bursaries will be offered on a ‘first come, first served basis.’ To apply or enquire please contact Marcin Dąbrowski: m.m.dabrowski@tudelft.nl.
• For any other inquiries please contact the local organisers of the workshop (Ida Musiałkowska and Piotr Idczak, ida.musialkowska@ue.poznan.pl)

This workshop is held under the auspices of the Regional Studies Association’s Research Network on EU Cohesion Policy, co-organised with the Network’s partners and hosted by the Department of Urbanism at Delft University of Technology. The Network is co-organised and animated by a group of partners from several European research institutions, including Marcin DĄBROWSKI (Department of Urbanism, TU Delft), Laura POLVERARI and John BACHTLER (University of Strathclyde), Oto POTLUKA (CEPS, University of Basel / University of Economics, Prague), Ida MUSIAŁKOWSKA (Poznan University of Economics and Business), Nicola Francesco DOTTI (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Eduarda Costa and Eduardo Medeiros (IGOT, University of Lisbon).

You can find out more about the Network on the RSA website and on facebook.