Was it true convergence? The cohesion policies and the peripheries of the Union

Abstract

The contribution analyses «It was true convergence? The cohesion policies and the peripheries of the Union, with attention to the context, the reading instruments and the implications for policies. First of all, the competitive imbalances created by the lack of harmonization of tax systems and, in some cases, by differentiated currency regimes, to benefit the economies of the East. Ultimately, the Coesion Policies, instead of pursuing the goal of redressing imbalances between the centre and the periphery of the Union, produce the perverse effect of tightening internal imbalances on the periphery, supporting the process of convergence only part of it. The best performances of the Eastern regions have been translated into an accentuated process of convergence within the periphery. European regional policies aim to encourage a ‘healthy’ competition between territories, but the necessary precondition for the equality of starting conditions is not satisfied. The themes of fiscal and political union are central to the academic debate (see, among others, De Grauwe, Ji, 2015; Furceri, Zdzienicka, 2015; Campos et al., 2015), but they struggle to enter the Union agenda for the obvious contrasts between the different national interests.

Keywords

Cohesion policy; territorial disparities; Public finance; European Union; labour market; Regional development

JEL codes

R58; R12; F15