ESPON 2013 Programme Newsletter No 22, 12 October 2011

Evidence-base for the future EU Cohesion Policy

 249Last week the European Commission adopted a draft legislative package framing EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020. The proposals will now be discussed by the Council and the European Parliament, with a view of adoption by the end of 2012.

The current policy dialogue has already revealed an interest at European level in a stronger evidence-based and result-oriented policy implementation. The dialogue also puts emphasis on an integrated, place-based approach and a territorial dimension in policy development.

ESPON has since 2002 step by step been building up pan-European comparable information on territorial dynamics affecting regions and cities. Innovative territorial indicators, new evidence, targeted analyses, prospective scenarios and operational tools supporting territorial impact assessment are among the ESPON output that have stimulated policy development at all levels. Indeed, the results have provided for a new, European dimension in the benchmarking and strategy building taking place in the regions and cities of Europe.

The ESPON knowledge base has gradually improved over the years and has now reached a higher level of maturity where ambitions of stronger evidence behind future policies can easily include a European territorial dimension, which is a must in the interdependent and connecting world of today.

In order to continuously improve the knowledge base, ESPON is currently actively asking for proposals on 15 new projects. They cover applied research, analyses to be delivered upon stakeholder demand, new tools as well as public relation in the transnational context. On 20 October 2011, hopefully many interesting proposals will be in-house for the process of evaluation and selection.

In total 50-60 projects are in motion and will deliver results over the coming years. The ESPON knowledge base will consequently increase dramatically and provide an important and directly available base for supporting the ambition of evidence-based and result-oriented policy development with a territorial dimension after 2014.

Peter Mehlbye, Director ESPON Coordination Unit

 

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