The impact of European regional cohesion policy on NUTS 3 disparities

The impact of the European Union’s cohesion policy is still controversial. Now more than ever, there is a particular demand for the regional cohesion policy to be impactful and effective. In this context, the paper aims to determine the effect of the regional cohesion policy on the NUTS 3 economic disparities. Although the regions eligible to receive structural funds, the main financial instrument of the regional cohesion policy, are defined at NUTS 2 level, some local effects that remain hidden at this level and affect disparities might be revealed by performing the analysis at a finer level of disaggregation, the NUTS 3 level. Our results show that the impact of structural funds on regional disparities is not as expected, as eligible regions experience a larger increase in disparities than non-eligible ones.