The updated RHOMOLO impact assessment of the 2014-2020 European cohesion policy (including REACT-EU)

We analyse the macroeconomic impact of the European cohesion policy investments deployed during the 2014-2020 programming period on the basis of simulations carried out with the spatial dynamic general equilibrium model called RHOMOLO. We use the latest data on actual expenditures including the EUR 50 billion falling under the recovery assistance for cohesion and the territories of Europe (REACT-EU) programme extending the response to the COVID-19 crisis. We quantify the direct and indirect potential effects of the policy in the NUTS 2 regions of the European Union within a 20-year time frame. The results suggest that the impact of the policy is sizeable, especially in the less developed regions. Accordingly, regional disparities are shown to decrease due to the policy intervention. The investments have also a positive impact on EU GDP, which is almost 0.6 % higher in 2023 compared to a scenario without cohesion policy.