Abstract
In simple terms, EU cohesion policy aims to bridge social and economic disparities within Europe. Its main financial instruments, the structural funds, are aimed primarily at promoting the development of disadvantaged regions and localities in the context of market integration. EU cohesion policy now accounts for approximately one-third of the total EU budget. In terms of Europeanization, it is a much-studied policy sector in which the themes of “fit” and “misfit” have been prominent, particularly in relation to the governance requirements of cohesion policy and extant practices within member states. This chapter provides an overview of developments across member states and, in a more detailed study of Britain, explores subtle and long-term Europeanization effects in an unlikely member state.
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Key readings
Bache, I. and R. Jones (2000) Empowering the Regions? The Political Impact of EC Regional Policy in Britain and Spain. Regional and Federal Studies, 10(2) 1–20.
Benz, A. and T. Eberlein (1999) The Europeanization of Regional Policies: Patterns of Multi-level Governance. Journal of European Public Policy, 6(2) 329–48.
Conzelmann, T. (1998) “Europeanization” of Regional Development Policies? Linking the Multi-level Governance Approach with Theories of Policy Learning and Policy Change. European Integration online Papers, 2(4).
Gualini, E. (2003) Challenges to Multi-level Governance: Contradictions and Conflicts in the Europeanization of Italian Regional Policy. Journal of European Public Policy, 10(4) 616–36.
Hooghe, L. (1996) Cohesion Policy and European Integration: Building Multi-Level Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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© 2008 Ian Bache
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Bache, I. (2008). Cohesion Policy. In: Graziano, P., Vink, M.P. (eds) Europeanization. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230584525_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230584525_18
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-230-20431-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-58452-5
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