Legal perspectives of the EU Cohesion Policy

The Volume intends to offer an analysis of the EU Cohesion Policy, a crucial portfolio of the European Union, with a mandate to reduce the gaps between the level of development of the regions of the EU. Cohesion Policy is defined as a rebalancing and redistribution mechanism between the Member States, but it is also one of the fundamental objectives of the Union, as indicated in Art. 3 TEU and therefore, as such, endowed with horizontal value, capable of contributing to the achievement and effective functioning of the internal market and the economic and monetary union. It must be considered in the formulation and implementation of all the policies and actions of the Union and in the coordination of the economic policies of the member States (Art. 175, para. 1 TFEU). It is also a vibrant example of solidarity in EU and a flexible instrument able to adapt itself to react to crisis of different sort. For all these reasons, the EU Cohesion Policy is at the cornerstone in all the analysis concerning possible amendments of the EU legal system. The present Volume constitutes an in-depth commentary on the present and the future of the EU Cohesion Policy and on its role in the progression of the European integration.