Against stiff international competition, EPRC has been awarded the contract for a major international research study on the potentials and needs of the new Member States and Candidate Countries.
The study, commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional Policy, will involve in-depth analyses of the long-term growth prospects in the new Member States (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) and Romania and Bulgaria), to identify the priorities for EU cohesion policy interventions for each country and to establish the appropriate policy mix.
The research will be led by an EPRC team of Dr Sara Davies, Professor John Bachtler, Dr Irene McMaster and Dr Martin Ferry, working with 12 research institutes from across the EU and a Scientific Steering Committee of leading regional policy academics.
The outcome of the research will help inform the European Commission's approach to the preparation and negotiation of EU cohesion policy interventions in the new Member States after 2006.