On the impact of European Union Cohesion Policy on regional support for the European project

Abstract

Cohesion Policy is the main policy tool of the European Union and the backbone of its regional policy. Given its characteristics, it is the EU policy with the greatest impact on the daily life of European citizens and can compensate population groups and places less favoured by the European integration process. As a result, the implementation of Cohesion Policy in a region is expected to shape the degree of regional support for the process of European integration. This study tests this assumption using regional data for the EU28 in a period that includes the recent phases of expansion and recession, in a scenario characterized by growing anti-EU rhetoric. The results suggest that a greater amount of EU funds spent in the region does not stimulate regional support for the Union. However, an appropriate temporal distribution of the resources allocated to the region could have a positive effect on support.