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AgnieszkaGierczycka-Bednarek
AdamWasiołka
THEEUREGIONALPOLICYINDEVELOPING
INNOVATIVEREGIONSINEUROPE
Introduction
Sustainableeconomicdevelopmentisbecomingincreasinglydependent
oftheregionaleconomies’capacitywithregardtochangeandinnovation.This
meansthatmuchgreatereffortisrequiredinordertocreateanenvironment
convenientforresearch,developmentandinnovation.TheRegionalPolicy
reflectsthisrequirementbysignificantincreaseinfundinggrantedforthis
purpose.ThisobjectivehasbeenclearintheEUpolicysincetheTreatyof
Romein1957.Initspreamblethesixsignatorystatesagreedthattheywere
"anxioustostrengthentheunityoftheireconomiesandtoensuretheir
harmoniousdevelopmentbyreducingthedifferencesexistingbetweenthe
variousregionsandthebackwardnessofthelessfavouredregions(...)”.The
past53yearsofEuropeancooperationresultedinthebuildingofhighways,
wasteandsewageplants,bridgesandlaboratories,improvedtheconditionsin
thelessfavouredurbanandindustrialregionsandimplementedmany
favourableprojectsinpoorerpartsofEurope.Solidarityandcohesionarethe
keyvaluesthatstandbehindtheobjectivesoftheRegionalPolicy.Currently
theregionalpolicyconstitutesanintegralpartofthecohesionpolicythat
concentratesoncultural,social,economicandenvironmentalaspects.This
kindofactivityisoftenreferredtoasthecohesion,structuralorregional
policy.Thesetermsarehowevernotsynonymous.Thestructuralpolicywas
thefirsttoevoke,thusthenameofitsinstrumentsi.e."structuralfunds”(also
usedinregionalpolicy).Theterm"cohesionpolicy”referstoitsfundamental
objective,i.e.strengtheningofeconomicandsocialcohesionbetweenregions
andtheEUstates.Theterm"regionalpolicy”isderivedfromthe
regionalisationofthepoliticalactivity,whichmeansthatactivitieswithinthis
objectiveentirelyconcentrateontheEuropeanregionsinsteadofcountries.
Thisdrawsattentiontothefactthatsocialandeconomicdifferencesoftenarise
betweenregionswithinonecountry.