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AgnieszkaGierczycka-Bednarek,AdamWasiołka
CohesionastheideaforEurope
TheEuropeanUnionisnotonlyacommonmarket.Italsoencompasses
acommonvalueandpoliticalsystemthathasbeendrawnupandagreedonby
thememberstatestothebenefitoftheircitizens.TheEuropeanUnion’s
politicalsystemisoneofthemostimportantelementsoftheintegration
process.SomepartoftheEUfundsisdevotedtothisandthefundsinquestion
comemainlyfromthewealthiestmemberstates.TheEUpolicyintroducesthe
ruleofsolidaritybetweentheEuropeannationsatthesametimeenhancing
increaseincompetitivenessoftheEuropeaneconomyasawhole.Itconstitutes
atool,whosetaskistoachieveoneofthekeyobjectivesstipulatedinthe
TreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity.
DespitethefactthattheEuropeanUnionrepresentsoneofthebest-
developedpartsoftheworld,therearehoweversignificantdifferencesinthe
levelofincomeandopportunitiesbetweensomeofitsregions.Theobjective
oftheEuropeanUnionistotransferresourcesfromthewealthierpartstothe
poorerparts.Itiscrucialforthelessdevelopedregionstoreachthesamelevel
ofwelfareastheremainingcountries.
Theregionalpolicyisbothaninstrumentrepresentingfinancial
solidarityaswellasapowerfuldrivingforcethatstimulatessocialand
economicintegration.Thesolidarityissupposedtobebeneficialforthe
regionsandcitizens,whoare–comparedtotheEUaverage–inaless
favourablesituation.Theprocessofachievingcohesionisbasedonthe
assumptionthatreductionofdifferencesinincomeandwelfarebetween
countriesandregionswillbebeneficialforallparties.
Significantdifferencesinthelevelofwelfareexistbothwithinthe
memberstatesaswellasbetweenthem.RegionswiththehighestGDPper
capitaareurbanregions–London,BrusselsandHamburg.Thewealthiest
country–Luxembourg–isseventimeswealthierthatRomaniaandBulgaria,
whicharethepoorestandyoungestmembersoftheEU.Differencesbetween
regionsareevengreater.Asimilarsituationexistsindevelopingeconomies
suchasChinaandIndia.ThesedifferencesintheUnitedStatesofAmericaand
Japanaremuchsmaller.(TheEuropeanCommission,DirectorateGeneralfor
RegionalPolicy).
Thesepolicieswhosepurposeisreductionofdisproportionsexisting
betweendifferentpartsoftheEuropeanUnionstrengthentheEuropean
integration.ItiscausedbytheenlargementoftheEUwithnewmembers,
whoseeconomiesarenotasdevelopedastheEuropeanaverage.Sincethe
beginningofthe21
stcentury,theEuropeanUnionhasbeenimplementingthe
strategyadoptedbytheTreatyofLisbon,whoseobjectiveistocreateasocial
highlycompetitivemarketeconomy.ThekeyEUobjectiveisthecreationof
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