Investing in regions to boost jobs: Cohesion policy and job creation

Summary:

In these times of post economic and financial crisis the EU is faced with numerous employment challenges, such as high overall unemployment and insufficient labour market participation by disadvantaged groups. Cohesion policy offers significant investment resources to address these issues and contribute to EU-wide employment goals.

The EU regulations on the European Structural and Investment Funds, which form the legal basis of cohesion policy, lay down the rules for funding allocation and specify the priorities supported, including employment.

The strategic implementation documents prepared by the Member States – Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes – describe concrete actions such as training, strengthening public employment services, and supporting entrepreneurship. Individual projects are then implemented on the ground.

The impact of cohesion policy is analysed by means of evaluations based on a set of common indicators and methods. These provide the basis for assessing the efficiency of interventions and progress towards the objectives