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The future development of European Regions is currently
under discussion at both the national and European levels.
What roles do European Structural Funds and national
regional policies play in helping our regions to develop in a sustainable way? Do we have the right tools to meet the new challenges facing EU regions, in particular the challenges of demographic change and migration? Does the regional level have enough authority to shape the policies which create the political reality for local and regional politicians? These are some of the questions which have been tackled by the AER reflection group on future cohesion policy during its first year of work.
A reflection group of the AER was established and asked AER member regions to take part in a consultation on regional development and the EU Structural Funds. The questionnaire also asked regions to describe their current work and to share their views on how future regional policy should support their work on regional development. Many regions provided us with invaluable examples of their exp eriences, as well as with best practice case studies on how they work together with different levels of government to shape economic and social development. They also contributed with their views on the future of regional policy.
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