Bridging the Gap, Reproducing the Divide: Cohesion Policy and the Persistence of Core-Periphery Inequality in the European Union

Abstract

This thesis examines why core-periphery inequalities within the European Union (EU) persist despite the long-standing implementation of Cohesion Policy. While Cohesion Policy is designed to reduce territorial disparities, convergence has remained uneven, especially within member states. Rather than evaluating Cohesion Policy as a success or failure, this thesis analyses how its effects are shaped by the structural conditions in which it operates. Using Regulation Theory, the argument is made that regional development is embedded in historically formed structures of accumulation and modes of regulation. This thesis makes use of a qualitative comparative case study design focusing on Spain, Hungary and Romania. The analysis shows that Cohesion Policy can improve infrastructure, employment, administrative capacity and market access, but these improvements do not change the structural position of peripheral regions. The five institutional forms of the mode of regulation help to explain this. Labour-market conditions, state capacity, competitive structures, monetary-financial relations and international insertion interact to shape how policy resources are absorbed into different regional contexts. In stronger regions, Cohesion Policy can connect to existing productive and institutional capacities, reinforcing cumulative development. In weaker regions, the same resources support adaptation, compensation and continued participation in wider markets without producing structural upgrading. The thesis concludes that Cohesion Policy is necessary but insufficient. It supports the EU’s promise that integration should not leave weaker territories behind and it functions as a form of institutional glue within an uneven Union. However, peripheral regions often remain incorporated into the European economy on dependent terms.