Fifth Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion – Investing in Europe’s future

Background and further information:

The fifth Cohesion Report is adopted in the aftermath of the worst financial and economic crisis in recent history. The EU and its Member States responded to this crisis by taking measures to keep businesses in operation and people in employment, stimulate demand and increase public investment.

Subsequently, several governments have faced diffculties refinancing their debts due to a combination of falling revenue and increasing expenditure on welfare payments and stimulus measures. Faced with large de cits and pressure from financial markets, most EU governments are in the process of implementing fiscal consolidation measures.

In the midst of this, the EU has adopted an ambitious new strategy for long-term recovery, Europe 2020. Its key objective is smart, inclusive and sustainable growth. Even more than its predecessor, the Lisbon Strategy, Europe 2020 emphasises the need for innovation, employment and social inclusion and a strong response to environmental challenges and climate change in order to meet this objective.

The aim of this Cohesion Report is to support the Europe 2020 strategy and highlight the contribution that regions, and Cohesion Policy, can make to meet these objectives. The report argues that the Europe 2020 headline targets cannot be achieved by policies formulated at EU or national level alone. Such an ambitious agenda can only succeed with strong national and regional participation and ownership on the ground. This is one of the main lessons learnt from the Lisbon Strategy. For example, reaching the employment target of 75% in the Convergence regions would have required almost 10 million extra jobs in 2008, more than in all other regions combined.The fifth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion was published by the European Commission in November 2010.

European Commission: Fifth Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion - Investing in Europe’s future [Alternative Link] http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/reports/cohesion5/pdf/5cr_summary_en.pdf

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