Abstract:
The article concerns the future of EU cohesion policy and changes in its management rules as foreseen by the European Commission. So far, new ideas have been presented in documents such as the 5th Cohesion Report, the Budget Review and the Proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU 2014-2020. This article aims to present the proposals for improvement to the design and the implementation of the policy, and focuses on the main issues of the ongoing debate. There are many reasons to assume that EU cohesion policy has entered into a new stage of development, as its future outlook will depend much on the intensity of the current economic crisis, financial difficulties of Member States, the ruling atmosphere of Euro-scepticism and the lack of European solidarity. For supporters of a strong EU cohesion policy it is a difficult challenge to demonstrate the positive effects of the policy for all European regions as it is to introduce the necessary reforms to make it even more effective and modern.