Review and reorientation: Cohesion Policy in the European Union

This has always been a difficult undertaking. To make matters worse, the United Kingdom is highly unlikely to be a member of the EU for the next MFF. As a result, the long-term British net contribution to the EU budget is likely to be much lower and may even be completely eliminated. Against this backdrop, this Analysis argues for a change of course in EU cohesion policy: in the future, only the poorer Member States should be financially supported, and they should not have to contribute to the financing of this policy at the EU level. A change of course is also advisable because in the two most recent funding periods the policy of concentrating the promotion of economic and social cohesion on the poorest regions has been abandoned.