The regional policy of the European Union and its results in Portugal: Convergence and divergence in practice

Portugal is often mentioned as one of the models of old cohesion countries. However, the development of the country was not continuous and did not bring along the catching up of all the regions. How far does the European Union’s structural support influence the development process of Portugal and how can the effects of structural support be measured in terms of the development of the country? What results and impact did the European Union’s structural policy have in Portugal in the last quarter-century? What are the lessons learnt and what could be done to make the implementation of the Funds more effective in the future? To what extent was the convergence of growth levels achieved between the Portuguese regions and the national average concerning structural support? The author tries to answer these questions amongst others, while dealing with the evaluation of the results of Structural Funds in Portugal and the convergence of the Portuguese regions.