Regional Development Policies In European Union: The Perspective Of 2013-2020

The main goal of the European Union is to become the most competitive and dynamic area in the world based on knowledge. To reach this, economic integration and social cohesion prevail as one of the prior columns. Among the measures and priorities aimed at maintaining wealth in the Community, lasting and noninflationaryeconomic growth, respect to the environment, a high level of employment, advanced social institutions, raising the level and quality of life predominate. Although the European Union is a union with the richest countries, the differences among the member states and among 250 regions are striking. In the face of globalization, all the Europeans do not have the same and equal opportunities and advantages. One of the important drives of the foundation of the European Union is to maintain equal and balanced progress among the member nations and regions. The importance of regional development in the European Union increases in paralel with the enlargement strategy. The purpose of this study is to examine the transformation of regional policies in European Union in parallel to trends of globalization and localization.