THREE DECADES OF THE EU COHESION POLICY: MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

The main role in strengthening of cohesion and competitiveness of the European regions plays the EU Cohesion Policy. In June 2018, it was 30 years when the first EU Cohesion Policy regulations were adopted. Since that, all EU countries have benefited from the financial assistance of European funds in order to increase economic growth, employment and quality of life of European citizens Thanks to the EU Cohesion Policy, the regional disparities decreased over the past decades, however a wide gap has still remained across EU regions. The first goal of the paper is to analyze the key milestone of the EU Cohesion Policy building and its importance for development of European countries and their regions. Furthermore, the paper deals with the actual issue of the post-2020 EU Cohesion Policy architecture in the context of new Multiannual Financial Framework and future European Integration challenges. The second goal of the paper is to evaluate the regional disparities and cohesion in the selected EU countries by quantitative approach.