Communicating Cohesion in Eastern Europe. The Cases of Romania, Hungary and Slovenia

A working paper has just been published by CEU Center for Policy Studies Research Fellow Dragos Adascalitei, Research Affiliate Anita Halasz, and Visiting Research Fellow Marko Lovec within the framework of the COHESIFY (The Impact of Cohesion Policy on EU Identification) research project.

Abstract

The paper seeks to explain how Cohesion Policy is implemented and communicated in three East European countries. Based on secondary data analysis and interviews with policy-makers involved in the design and implementation of communication strategies at the local and regional levels, it argues that national communication strategies vary depending on how committed national actors are to communication as an effective tool that can contribute to the success of operational programmes. Furthermore, the paper shows that in general, national policy makers perceived communication as a formal requirement that needs to be fulfilled, without paying much attention to how to strategically integrate communication into the implementation of various Operational Programs. This raises questions about how effective the communication of Cohesion Policy can be in generating a European identity.