Commentary: social issues and well-being in the EU: challenges for Cohesion Policy

The origins of Cohesion Policy include the application of the fundamentals that defend the excellence of social issues in the core of its intervention. In 2008, a publication of Inforegio-Panorama Review on the theme of “EU Cohesion Policy 1988–2008: Investing in Europe’s future” assessed twenty years of regional policy, describing the different moments since the beginning of Cohesion Policy. The first moment stems from 1957 to 1987, the second occurred between 1988 and 1993 and the third corresponded with the implementation of Community Support Frameworks (CSFs) and Operational Programmes from 1994 to 1999 (EC, 2008a). Up to 1999, large physical investments were made in infrastructure (as in the case of road and communications sectors) and equipment, highlighting here education, culture, health, sport and other social support issues. They increased the mobility of people, goods and services and also enabled the development of social services to support the population. The construction of this equipment, either in densely populated urban areas pressured by high demands to which it was necessary to respond, or in less densely populated areas where this type of equipment and infrastructure was scarce, contributed to the economic and social convergence between the territories (EC, 2008b) [...]