The Center for Policy Studies at Central European University (CPS-CEU) is part of a consortium that has been awarded a grant to study the impact of the European Union’s cohesion program.

The grant is funding a project called COHESIFY, which will focus on four interrelated issues:

• how European identity and perceptions of the EU and Cohesion policy vary at national, regional and local levels;
• the impact of Cohesion policy on citizens’ perceptions of the policy and identification with the EU;
• whether and how Cohesion policy communication strategies affect perception and identification; and
• what is needed to make Cohesion policy more effective in terms of people’s perceptions of the policy and the EU more generally

The study will employ an innovative mixed-methods design including an original and representative survey of citizens in a sample of EU regions, quantitative and qualitative analysis of EU-wide data and of programme implementation and communication strategies in a sample of regions, framing and sentiment analysis of online and offline media and focus groups with citizens.

Funded under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, COHESIFY aims to check how the European citizens perceive the EU through the lenses of money invested in their towns, cities and regions. By conducting a multidisciplinary study, researchers will investigate if cohesion policy, the fund behind 50 billion euros invested yearly in all European regions, effects people’s identification with the European project.

CPS-CEU is one of 8 academic institutions and 2 SMEs participating in the project, which is being led by the European Policies Research Centre (EPRC).