Cohesion Policy on the Rocks?

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Mendez, Carlos and Bachtler, John and Wishlade, Fiona (2025) Cohesion Policy on the Rocks? University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

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Abstract

For the first time since 1988, the European Commission’s proposals for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-34 have raised serious questions about whether key principles of Cohesion Policy will survive. The proposals foresee a substantial diversion of funding away from Cohesion Policy and the CAP towards competitiveness, defence, resilience and external action. Crucially, the Commission also proposes a more centralised approach to deciding the allocation of funding subject to shared management, giving national governments the responsibility for drawing up ‘national and regional partnership plans’, without the regulatory guarantees and Commission oversight that have hitherto underpinned multi-level governance. The future budget would also link investment to reforms, provide more flexibility to reallocate funding as circumstances change, and widen the use of performance-related payments. The paper begins by reviewing the current state of play of Cohesion Policy implementation and effectiveness in 2021–27 and assesses the implications of the Mid-Term Review legislative reform. It then examines the political and institutional context leading up to the Commission’s MFF proposals, before analysing Member State positions on both the budget and the future of Cohesion Policy. The paper then turns to the Commission’s formal proposals for the 2028–34 EU MFF, assessing the implications for the overall budget and financial allocations to Member States. The new regulatory framework for Cohesion Policy is then reviewed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the key challenges and questions facing Cohesion Policy in the future

ORCID iDs

Mendez, Carlos ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7109-4444, Bachtler, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0706-597X and Wishlade, Fiona ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2367-0424;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)