Regional policy of the European Union

The Regional Policy of the European Union (EU), also referred as Cohesion Policy, is a policy with the stated aim of improving the economic well-being of regions in the European Union and also to avoid regional disparities. More than one third of the EU's budget is devoted to this policy, which aims to remove economic, social and territorial disparities across the EU, restructure declining industrial areas and diversify rural areas which have declining agriculture. In doing so, EU regional policy is geared towards making regions more competitive, fostering economic growth and creating new jobs. The policy also has a role to play in wider challenges for the future, including climate change, energy supply and globalisation.

The EU's regional policy covers all European regions, although regions across the EU fall in different categories (so-called objectives), depending mostly on their economic situation. Between 2007 and 2013, EU regional policy consisted of three objectives: Convergence, Regional competitiveness and employment, and European territorial cooperation; the previous three objectives (from 2000 to 2006) were simply known as Objectives 1, 2 and 3.

The policy constitutes the main investment policy of the EU, and is due to account for around one third of its budget, or EUR 392 billion over the period of 2021-2027. In its long-term budget, the EU's Cohesion policy gives particular attention to regions where economic development is below the EU average.

Notion of territorial cohesion

Territorial cohesion is a European Union concept which builds on the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP). The main idea of territorial cohesion is to contribute to European sustainable development and competitiveness.