Cohesion Policy After 2007

Abstract

The cohesion policy of the European Union might be understood as a form of redistribution, based on the recognition of the fact that the neoliberal project of the single market is not equally beneficial for all, as it was believed to be the case initially. It came about as a result of gradual realisation that there are social groups (e.g. the unemployed, those employed in agriculture or shipbuilding, the elderly, the young, women and ethnic minorities) as well as geographical areas (poorer countries and regions which at a certain point in time started to enter the EC) which found it difficult to compete in the context of the European single market. As a result, the structural funds, the cohesion fund and the community initiatives were developed to address these target groups. Sadly, it is widely believed in the general public, especially in the new member states, that the resources available within cohesion policy are vast, and that they enable member states to catch up with the community average almost ‘automatically’. Not surprisingly, this is not the case.