PERCEIVE project - DELIVERABLE 7.5 - GUIDELINES ON COHESION POLICY IMPLEMENTATION Guidelines to support Cohesion Policy makers are built on the basis of the main messages conveyed by the conducted survey, the statistical analysis and regional focus groups with guidelines and suggestions to support Cohesion Policy making. February 2019

The regional and local authorities have been recognised a growing role in planning and implementing the Cohesion Policy, thus favouring a citizens’ perception of Europe that is local-driven. In other words, when individuals think of Europe, they usually do it from a local point of view and they are influenced by the direct observation of Cohesion projects in their territories (PERCEIVE, Deliverable 2.2). That is to say, the European integration outcomes also increasingly depend on how national, regional and local governments manage and implement the policies. Therefore, a rich strain of literature has recently started to investigate whether the intensity and the efficient implementation of the Cohesion Policy can contribute to improve citizens’ support and stimulate positive attitudes towards the EU (Dellmut and Chalmers, 2018). The effect may vary conditional on specific regional characteristics, the amount of EU funds allocated and the distribution of the socio-economic groups. We believe that the efficient use of the Structural Funds allocated to a region can indeed favour a more positive perception of the EU both directly and through its positive effect on economic growth. Overall, this framework suggests the adoption of a European strategic approach to regional development which builds upon the differentiated territorial characteristics in a multidimensional perspective. In the end, the strategic approach should translate in a tailored policy-mix based on integrated programmes – in terms of funds, objectives and governance level – to help maintain the sustainability of the policy action through long-term development.