Regional & Urban Policy 8 th Progress Report: The urban and regional dimension of the crisis Eric von Breska, Head of Economic Analysis Unit, DG Regional and Urban Policy ESPON 2013 Programme Internal Seminar Territorial Evidence for Cohesion Policy and Territorial Agenda December 2013 Vilnius

Regional & Urban Policy Impact of the recession

Regional & Urban Policy Change in employment and GVA

Regional & Urban Policy Unemployment increases

Regional & Urban Policy Reversing convergence

Regional & Urban Policy More young people without a job or in training or education

Regional & Urban Policy Growing poverty and exclusion

Regional & Urban Policy

Public deficit (as % of EU GDP) at national level, EU-27, Source: Eurostat

Regional & Urban Policy Public investment at sub-national levels, EU-27, (% of EU GDP) Source: Eurostat Around 60% of total public investment in the EU-27 is carried out by sub-national authorities

Regional & Urban Policy In short…. Impact of the crisis is uneven and unfinished Trade and FDI are recovering, but unemployment remains high Risk of poverty and exclusion is growing Government finances including of sub-national authorities have deteriorated

Regional & Urban Policy Implications for cohesion policy Important role of cohesion policy in supporting growth enhancing investments in Member States (3rd pillar of EU's economic policy triangle) Focus cohesion investments on key sectors for growth, employment and competitiveness Need to increase value for money through a stronger focus on performance and results

Regional & Urban Policy Implications for ESPON 1.Focus Research on fields linked to the thematic objectives of cohesion policy which cover key aspects of Europe 2020 strategy. Projects should identify how they will contribute to improve policy actions aiming at enhancing sustainable growth, employment and competitiveness in the EU.

Regional & Urban Policy Implications for ESPON 2.Support policy design, monitoring and evaluation of results Help stakeholders to improve the design, implementation and/or evaluation of their actions. Provide swift response to requests from policy makers at the European, national and regional level. Produce short papers facilitating the use of research results in policy making.

Regional & Urban Policy Implications for ESPON 3.Enhance and reinforce ESPON Alignment of research with policy agenda:  Improve interactions between scientists and policy makers  Enhance steering of research projects Strengthen in-house expertise Faster and more efficient procedures