A spatial analysis of the effectiveness of European structural Funds on regional growth

EU cohesion policy celebrated its twenty years of existence in 2009. The establishment of this policy stems for the observation that market forces may not be sufficient to significantly reduce regional inequalities. The EU therefore built this financial solidarity tool between member states with the aim of improving the competitiveness of disadvantaged regions and correcting regional imbalances. Yet, literature (particularly in spatial econometrics) on the question of the effectiveness of European funds is not unanimous. Hence, we suggest to analyse the cohesion policy and its role in regional growth through a method developed in spatial analysis, namely the GWR (Geographically Weighted Regression). The results show that the effects of the cohesion policy are differentiated according to EU regions. Spatial variations of the influence of European funds on the economic growth of regions ask for inflections in the Cohesion policy, especially in favor of a more territorialized policy.