Cohesion Policy and Sustainable Development
The aim of the study is to:
- define sustainable development (and in particular the integration of economic, social and environmental objectives) in the context of Cohesion Policy, which will remain primarily an economic and social development policy;
- assess the impact of the 2007-2013 generation of programmes on sustainable development (in particular environment) through case studies and literature review;
- identify appropriate intervention strategies to promote sustainable development (with a focus on environmental sustainability) within Cohesion Policy programmes, and in particular to assess those with the greatest potential to create sustainable growth and jobs in the context of a carbon and resource constrained economy, and to assess how Cohesion Policy can contribute to managing the change to the green economy; and
- review policy tools and governance arrangements within the 2007-2013 generation of programmes, and draw conclusion for future Cohesion Policy.
In doing this the study will focus on the four key environmental themes identified by the EU SDS in assessing the integration of environmental and Cohesion Policy objectives:
- Climate change and clean energy
- Sustainable transport
- Conservation and management of natural resources
- Sustainable consumption and production
The final Report and a number of supporting papers are avaible for download:
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information/studies/index_en.cfm#1
