The quality of government and the EU cohesion policy: mutual relations in different regional contexts Cover Image

Jakość rządzenia a polityka spójności: wzajemne relacje w różnych kontekstach regionalnych
The quality of government and the EU cohesion policy: mutual relations in different regional contexts

Author(s): Janusz T. Hryniewicz, Maciej Smętkowski, Adam Płoszaj
Subject(s): Politics, Governance, Public Administration, Public Law, Sociology
Published by: EUROREG - Uniwersytet Warszawski, Regional Studies Association - Sekcja Polska
Keywords: Cohesion Policy; quality of government; regional development; EU funds

Summary/Abstract: The study focuses on the mutual relations between the quality of government and the implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy in various regional contexts. The research shows quite significant differences in this respect between “convergence-oriented” regions and „competitiveness and employment-oriented” ones. The quality of government has a positive impact on the efficiency of spending of EU funds in both groups of regions, although the dependence is much stronger in the „convergence-oriented” regions. In turn, the scale of EU funds contributes to the improvement of the quality of government, but only in the „convergence-oriented” regions. In this group, changes in the quality of government took place immediately before and after accession to the EU, when the process of adapting the institutional system to the needs related to the implementation of Cohesion Policy occurred. Although the differences in the quality of government between the two groups of regions have decreased, the research shows that in the „convergence-oriented” regions, the potential causative power of EU funds was rather poorly used in this respect.

  • Issue Year: 19/2018
  • Issue No: 72
  • Page Range: 5-28
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: English, Polish