Regional policy in times of austerity and the recent reforms of EU policies were among the key themes of the 34th Conference of the European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA) held at Ross Priory, Loch Lomondside, Scotland, on 6-8 October 2013.
The Conference, chaired by John Bachtler, brought together senior regional policymakers from across Europe to debate the current state of national regional policies, EU Competition policy control of State aid, and the reform of EU Cohesion policy. The Conference sessions were based on research reports and presentations prepared by EPRC, following research conducted in 30 European countries during 2013.
By way of introduction, Sara Davies gave an assessment of the recent evolution of regional and local problems and the development challenges facing policymakers.
This was followed by the presentation of a typology of regional policy responses given by Fiona Wishlade and an assessment of how the management and implementation of policy is changing, given by Martin Ferry.
Focusing on employment and skills issues, Sara Davies also presented a review of the role of labour market policies in regional policy.
Shifting the focus of the debate, two papers were presented on policy reforms at EU level, first on changes to the EU Regional Aid Guidelines by Fiona Wishlade, and then an assessment of reforms to EU Cohesion policy in the 2014-2020 period by Carlos Mendez.
Managed by EPRC, EoRPA is a research programme funded by government departments from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. More information about EoRPA is available here.