One of the main objectives of the EU is cohesion, namely a decrease in the disparity of wealth between its constituent parts. A considerable part of the EU budget is earmarked for this policy. The policy should also support the EU 2020 strategy, which focuses on smart, inclusive and sustainable...

The EU is confronted with a series of important problems. The two that interest us most in the present paper are the lack of competitiveness on international markets and the considerable internal (regional) imbalances. Since quite some time the EU has put policies in practice to address both...