Cohesion Policy could play an important role in growth of EU Member States

Within the framework of Latvian Presidency, on February 4-6, an international conference “Challenges for the New Cohesion Policy in 2014-2020: An Academic and Policy Debate  will take place. Participants of the conference will discuss how the Cohesion Policy facilitates the growth of Europe and employment. This issue is also closely related to the priority of Latvian Presidency - Competitive Europe.

The conference on February 5, at 9.00, will be opened by Finance Minister Janis Reirs. But professionals and academics related to the Cohesion Policy from the entire European Union (EU), including a number of representatives from the Latvian public administration, educational and research institutions, will represent their reports.

“Cohesion Policy, if considered as an investment policy, can play an important role in growth of each EU Member State. Latvia takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the beginning of the new reformed Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 investment cycle. European regions are still affected by serious economic challenges. Therefore, the reformed Cohesion Policy will be an important tool for Member States and regions to overcome successfully these challenges. Together with other economic growth promotion measures and new Cohesion Policy programmes we can achieve a significant result , indicates Finance Minister J. Reirs.

Several thematic blocks are put on the conference agenda:

Economic geography and Cohesion Policy: how are the economic and social challenges for European Structural & Investment Funds changing?

Institutions and governance: what can Cohesion Policy do to strengthen public administration and effective management of the Funds?

Performance and results: how can Cohesion Policy resources be used most effectively and efficiently?

Instruments: what kind of Cohesion Policy interventions make a difference?

EU economic governance and Cohesion Policy: what are the implications of governance reforms for Cohesion Policy?

Cohesion Policy is financially the most intensive EU policy and aims to reduce disparities between EU regions. The objective of the new Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 is to promote the achievement of “Europe 2020  goals and allocate financing to underlying priorities - innovations, business support, employment and modern public administration.

The conference is organized by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission, Regional Studies Association, Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and University of Latvia.

Live broadcast of the conference will be available on February 5, between 9.00 and 18.00, and on February 6, between 9.00 and 15.00.