Do you speak cohesion?

In this edition of our series on Cohesion policy, we have two very special guests joining: European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira and EURACTIV’s Jorge Valero. We take a closer look at how Europe’s historic recovery fund will work alongside the classical instrument of Cohesion policy, and what are the challenges of implementing these giant money pots simultaneously. 

The European Regional Development and Cohesion funds, the classical tools of the EU’s cohesion policy, will disburse €242.9 billion euros during the 2021-2027 period, 30% of which will go to greening.

In this episode we discuss how the cohesion policy contributes to protecting the environment and tackling climate change, taking a closer look at what the next seven years have in store compared to the previous budgetary period of 2014-2020.

In this episode we will look at how the pandemic has affected the labour market, what we can expect from 2021 as well as the different tools the EU has to help countries protect work places. To find out how regional authorities are dealing with the crisis, we spoke to the governor of the North Aegean region, Konstantinos Moutzouris. The chief economist of the European Investment Bank, Debora Revoltella, will tell us more about the market forces underlying the economic hardship European workers are going through and give us a better picture of the dynamics that we can expect to play out in the future. Finally, we ask Per HILMERSSON, the Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation that represents 45 million workers across the European Union about his take on the EU-level actions so far, and whether policy-makers in Brussels are doing enough.

In the second part of EURACTIV’s series on cohesion policy, the European Union’s project to decrease the disparities between its regions, we look at social economy, its importance to the bloc’s economic and social health as well as its potential to drive forward the green and digital transitions, currently at the top of Brussels’ long-term agenda.

The European Commission presented its first political initiative for the social economy in 1989, and the term originally linked to France has now spread across the Union. The concept since then has come to encompass the different businesses that always put people and the collective interest first, like social enterprises, mutuals, cooperatives and foundations.

Can more investment into the social economy, which already generates 8% of the EU’s GDP, be part of the holistic solution to get the bloc out of the crisis caused by the pandemic?

We also speak about what the future holds for the EU financing of civil society organisations and forthcoming EU investment plans, like InvestEU.

In the first edition of “Do you speak cohesion?” we are breaking down the elements of the cohesion policy or regional development funds, providing a better understanding over the European Union’s support mechanism. We will be explaining what is cohesion policy’s main objective, how it started and which are the main factors that shaped this vital  “engine” for the development of the Union.

The regional and development fund was firstly introduced in 1975 and it was implemented in 1988 after Spain, Portugal and Greece joined the EU. But how does it help today to reduce the disparities between the various regions and reassure the competitiveness of the less expanded economies?

We will also talk about how cohesion policy can help the member states tackle the new economic challenges and repercussions caused by the COVID-19 crisis.