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Article by Annalisa Girardi – Journalist, Fanpage.it

Cohesion policy funds are one of the main financing channels for European policies. In recent weeks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned them, suggesting drawing on this instrument as an integral part of the RearmEU plan. This idea, however, does not sit well with Italy: “We do not intend to divert a single euro from cohesion funds for defense,” Giorgia Meloni told Parliament before the European Council.

But let’s take a closer look at cohesion funds. As the European Parliament explains , cohesion funds were established ” with the aim of strengthening the economic, social, and territorial cohesion of the European Union in order to promote sustainable development .” In the 2021-2027 period, the objectives to be supported are:

  • investments in environmental matters, including in sectors related to sustainable development and energy that have environmental benefits;
  • trans-European networks with regard to transport infrastructure;
  • technical assistance.

Cohesion funds are used to finance various programmes and are managed by both the Commission and the national and regional authorities of the Member States.

To summarize, cohesion policies aim to reduce gaps and disparities between European territories and regions, focusing in particular on less developed areas, thus increasing economic and social development opportunities for the most vulnerable communities. All these policies are financed by structural funds, of which there are three main types :

  • The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) , which is the main financial instrument for promoting economic and employment growth in European regions and for reducing development disparities and imbalances.
  • the European Social Fund (ESF) , which has the main objective of supporting Member States in achieving high and adequate levels of skilled and resilient employment and fair and inclusive social protection, thereby contributing to the Union’s priorities;
  • The Just Transition Fund (JTF) , which supports investments for a fair and sustainable transition towards a climate-neutral Union economy by 2050.

When presenting the rearmament plan, President von der Leyen mentioned the use of cohesion funds among the various tools to support defense spending. However, several countries have doubts about this, and Italy is one of them.

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