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The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. This book brings together academics, members of European institutions, and regional and national level policymakers in order to assess the performance and direction of EU Cohesion policy against the background of the most significant reforms to the policy in a generation. Responding to past criticisms of the effectiveness of the policy, the policy changes introduced in 2013 have aligned European Structural and Investment Funds with the Europe 2020 strategy and introduced measures to improve strategic coherence, performance and integrated development. EU Cohesion Policy: Reassessing performance and direction argues that policy can only be successfully developed and implemented if there is input from both academics and practitioners. The chapters in the book address four important issues: the effectiveness and impact of Cohesion policy at European, national and regional levels; the contribution of Cohesion policy to the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the importance of quality of government and administrative capacity for the effective management of the Funds; and the inter-relationships between institutions, territory and place-based policies. The volume will be an invaluable resource to students, academics and policymakers across economics, regional studies, European studies and international relations.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. This book brings together academics, members of European institutions, and regional and national level policymakers in order to assess the performance and direction of EU Cohesion policy against the background of the most significant reforms to the policy in a generation. Responding to past criticisms of the effectiveness of the policy, the policy changes introduced in 2013 have aligned European Structural and Investment Funds with the Europe 2020 strategy and introduced measures to improve strategic coherence, performance and integrated development. EU Cohesion Policy: Reassessing performance and direction argues that policy can only be successfully developed and implemented if there is input from both academics and practitioners. The chapters in the book address four important issues: the effectiveness and impact of Cohesion policy at European, national and regional levels; the contribution of Cohesion policy to the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the importance of quality of government and administrative capacity for the effective management of the Funds; and the inter-relationships between institutions, territory and place-based policies. The volume will be an invaluable resource to students, academics and policymakers across economics, regional studies, European studies and international relations.

The importance of mass media in shaping citizens' attitudes towards various political issues is well-documented in political communication and media studies. Moreover, mass media play an important role in the process of identity formation by influencing individual judgements towards the community and stimulating a sense of belonging in a group. Bearing these postulations in mind, it is clear that European integration and the formation of European identity can be affected by media representations of the EU and its policies. Following this logic, this research paper explores how media represent EU Cohesion policy and whether these representations can affect the formation of European identity. To address these goals, we undertake a framing analysis of 2714 media articles selected from European, national and regional media outlets over a 10-year period (2007-2017). The analysis revealed eight culturally-embedded frames producing news on Cohesion policy issues. The majority of the media articles had a positive valence, especially in relation to the EU. However, despite the positive valence of the analysed news articles, the analysis unfolded a low degree of Europeanisation of the public discourse. Overall, the results suggest that although media representations of Cohesion Policy can reflect a positive stance towards EU Cohesion policy, this does (yet) fully translate into the promotion of European identity mainly due to the fragmented and nationalised discourses employed by the media outlets that were investigated in this research. ; COHESIFY Research paper 9. COHESIFY WP4 -- Task 4.1: Output 4.2

Baun, Michael and Marek, Dan (2014). Cohesion Policy in the European Union. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 272 pages.

"This textbook by two leading experts looks at the realities and controversies of the European Union's cohesion policy: how effective it is, who it impacts, and what it says about the EU's governance at a wider level. At a time when more EU projects connected with cohesion policy are underway than ever before, and much of Europe is still responding to the effects of the global and eurozone crises, it is important to assess how the policy is benefiting eligible member states, and how it is perceived by European citizens. Taking account of recent developments as well as the changing priorities of the Commission and national governments across time, this comprehensive text is both up-to-date and historically grounded. It considers all aspects of the policy such as the criteria for eligibility; how it is funded; its role in strategies for development, growth and competitiveness; and how it is planned, implemented and evaluated. Furthermore, it examines how contemporary political and economic factors, such as the continuing influence of Germany in Europe and the growing north-side divide, will shape the future of cohesion policy. "--