Citizens’ perception of Cohesion Policy: from theory to empirical evidence

Since the Brexit referendum and the widespread resurgence of nationalisms, the future of the European Union has become an urgent issue. The idea of this paper is that Cohesion Policy might contribute to the process of European identity-building, and the intensity of this contribution depends on how citizens perceive European Union interventions. This study provides original evidence on the impact of certain characteristics of local policy settings on the perception of Cohesion Policy. It finds that citizens’ satisfaction depends on the fulfilment of their perceived needs. This holds independently of the capacity of European Union actions to fulfil the objective needs of the regions.