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Unwritten Factors Affecting Structural Funds: The Influence of Regional Political Behaviours on the Implementation of EU Cohesion Policy

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Dotti, Nicola Francesco [UCL]

While EU regional policy has the ambitious objective of supporting lagging regions and promoting inter-regional convergence, its impact is dependent on the ability of regional policymakers to secure and use EU funding to meet the region's needs. This paper aims to show under which conditions politics has a defining influence on the distribution, allocation and utilization of structural funds (SF), specifically in Objective 1 regions. The empirical analysis focuses on the 2000–2006 programming cycle in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The results show that regions politically aligned with national governing coalitions tend to perform better in terms of received SF support and enjoy more flexibility in implementing SF. However, the influence of regional political behaviours on economic performances is very limited. The findings confirm the importance of politics in influencing SF implementation, but its limited influence on economic outcomes.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès libre
Publication date 2016
Language Anglais
Journal information "European Planning Studies" - Vol. 24, no.3, p. 530-550 (2015)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Routledge (Abingdon)
issn 0965-4313
e-issn 1469-5944
Publication status Publié
Affiliations UCL - SSH/SPLE - Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe
VUB - Department of Geography
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Bibliographic reference Dotti, Nicola Francesco. Unwritten Factors Affecting Structural Funds: The Influence of Regional Political Behaviours on the Implementation of EU Cohesion Policy. In: European Planning Studies, Vol. 24, no.3, p. 530-550 (2015)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/179687