In this paper I would like to raise the question at which extent the Union's cohesion policy can promote convergence within the Union. I will discuss major aspects of an analysis on the justification and of the design of the Union's cohesion policy. For this purpose recent empirical data and policies will be investigated. The paper will focus on the weaker Member States of the European Union. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

This thesis deals with the convergence process in the European Union. It focuses primarily on processes associated with the member states from Central and Eastern Europe which joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. The work is divided into two main parts which are dealing with real and nominal convergence.

The aim of this diploma is the analysis of regional unemployment in the Czech Republic and examination which has cohesion policy of the European union to the unemploement rate at the level of individual regions in the Czech republic. The theoretical part includes basic description of cohesion policy in three programming periods and conceptions relevants to unemployement. Practical part is focused to analysis of regional unemployment and diferences between regions. The regions are examined from individual indicators of unemployment, individual economics indicators and indicators relevant to cohesion policy. The last part includes summary and interpretation of uenmployment indicators and cohesion policy indicators.

Diploma thesis analyzes the implementation system of EU Cohesion Policy in the Czech Republic. Based on the analysis of the implementation system are described the most crucial factors influencing the (un)successful implementation of EU structural funds in the Czech Republic. The main objective is to create an implementation based on an analysis model for the programming period 2014-2020.

The aim of the diploma thesis is the analysis of regional unemployment in the Czech Republic in the context of cohesion policy of the European Union at the level of individual regions of the Czech Republic. The theoretical part includes basic methodology, related to concepts of unemployment and cohesion policy, and then focuses on three programming periods of the European Union (2000-2006, 2007-2013, 2014-2020). The practical part is focused on examining regional disparities. Districts, counties and cohesion regions are investigated from the perspective of selected indicators of unemployment, and other economic indicators. The conclusion summarizes the regional differences of unemployment in the Czech Republic and provides an assessment of regional disparities in the context of two programming periods: 2000-2006 and 2007-2013.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to characterize and judge, if the cohesion policy of the European Union really reflects regional differences of the unemployment in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part is oriented mainly on describing the unemployment from the perspective of the economic theory. The empirical part is focused on the development of the unemployment in the Czech Republic, and actual data are compared with the European Union. In this part is also the cohesion policy of the European Union generally introduced. After this follows the main chapter of this diploma thesis, which analyzes the unemployment in each region in the Czech Republic from the perspective of chosen indicators. The final chapter aims to answer the pointed goal of the thesis with the help of all available data.

During the first decade of its membership in the EU, the Czech Republic received through the EU Cohesion Policy valuable financial resources to reduce regional disparities and catch up with the economic level of the more advanced EU member states. Now, after ten years of membership in this integration group, it is time to evaluate and analyze the implementation structure of the Structural Funds in the Czech Republic, but also the impact of this instrument on the economy of our country. The aim of the doctoral dissertation is to evaluate to what extent the implementation structure of the Structural Funds in the Czech Republic meets the needs of economic and social development of the Czech Republic. The amount designated for the cohesion policy in the Czech Republic is quite high, so it is appropriate in this connection to examine the efficiency of this financial resources.

Evaluation is an institutionalized practice in the western public sector with several applications and uses. At the same time, the effectiveness and use of evaluation is seldom demonstrated. This evaluation paradox is due to the fact that evaluation is constrained and shaped in relation to, among others, a political context.  In this dissertation, the political context is examined from the assumption that governance shapes evaluation. The aim is to analyze the relationship between governance and evaluation, by studying the translation (i.e. inter­pretation) of the European Union evaluation approach ongoing evaluation in Sweden, in the context of Cohesion policy 2007-2013, which in Sweden aims at reinforcing competitiveness and employment. The relation­ship is examined through documents and interviews on a European union and a Swedish level, and in the translation process in between. With key concepts such as steering logics, participatory evaluation and translation through framing, the formation of evaluation in relation to governance has been mapped. This is particularly interesting in Sweden where the approach puts forth ideals of learning and interaction that seem to depart from ongoing evaluation.    Results show that governance cannot fully explain the shape of evaluation. Instead, Swedish agencies and other implementing actors have promoted their evaluation norms while at the same time fulfilling the Swedish ministries’ learning frame. It is an actor perspective comple­menting the relation­­ship between gover­nance and evaluation previously presented. The evaluation approach in Sweden has been translated to a practical participatory evaluation approach within a larger group of collabora­tive inquiry. In conclusion, evaluation on both levels has functioned as a relatively un­critical supportive resource for decision making within predetermined boundaries, more connected to the object of evaluation than to a larger gover­nance context. Evaluation in Sweden is being separated from questions of accounta­bility, and participation in evaluation is for goal fulfillment rather than for critical examination of basic assumptions underpinning projects and programs. Results made possible through the lens of trans­lation show that the Swedish approach was made possible by the vague borders of the field of evaluation, the rhetorical use of evaluation terminology in translation, skilled institutional entrepreneurs using legitimizing strategies, and the framing by the Commission and state ministries that opens up for national variation.

The growing awareness of functional linkages between rural and urban territories has led to a re-thinking of the rural-urban dichotomy. This was flanked by a more general reconceptualization of space, directly coming from the rise of spatial planning and the shifting process from government to governance. Thus, the concept of “soft space” came to the fore, defined as the space of governance and integrated approach. The EU Commission has launched a new instrument aimed at fostering the territorial approach of the new Cohesion Policy, namely the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI). This research wants to investigate the added value of the ITI instrument in governing and institutionalizing the rural-urban linkages at the metropolitan level. In doing so, the author has created a conceptual framework based on three main concepts directly coming from the concept of soft space, namely institutionalization, governance capacity, and integrated approach. The empirical study is focused on Poland, in particular, dealing with the case of Warsaw, Krakow, and Wroclaw. As a result, this research argues that the ITI in Poland has represented an attempt to improve the cooperation between capital cities and their surrounding areas, even though its outcomes can be questionable.

This project is structured into three parts. The first one describes fundamental information about EU which serve as the base for the further analysis. It is focused on institutional framework of the Union and also freedom of movement for goods, services, persons and capital in the unique market. Except of the description of prime principles, there are as well outlined current failures and reforms which could solve them. Strategy of cohesion policy, its goals, tools and financial scope are explained in the text. The second chapter shows impacts of structural policy of EU on the Czech Republic economy. This article will be engaged in questions of structural funds redistribution through Operating programmes, net balance on financial transfers between the Czech Republic and the EU budget and the impact of this transfers on the Czech economic growth. The last theoretical part researches in addition to effects of cohesion policy also further important aspect of the european integration - participation in the unique market. General economic models as Solow model or 2x2 model are exploited and extended by aspects of integration. Subsequently there are researched impacts on allocation effectiveness and welfare of member countries. The purpose of the project is to map the process of sources redistribution in EU, show its uselessly huge administrative severity, consider about its effects and benefits and describe wider contexts of cohesion policy.