Regional policy in Europe appears to be getting increased importance in some countries as governments become more concerned with regional imbalance following the crisis.
This was the main theme of a keynote presentation by Professor John Bachtler to the Conference ‘100 Years of Finnish Development’ held in Jyväskylä, and organised by the Ministry of Employment & the Economy as part of the centenary celebrations of Finland’s independence. John’s paper drew on comparative research on regional policy under EPRC’s EoRPA programme, highlighting how several countries have been introducing new regional policy measures to deal with structural weaknesses in innovation and productivity, as well as to manage regional adaptation to climate change and address problems of social exclusion and marginalisation.
John also reviewed the budgetary and policy context for the post-2020 reform of EU Cohesion policy, discussing key themes including economic governance, flexibility, simplification and differentiation.
