In the 20 years since the most significant EU enlargement ever, cohesion policy has supported development of infrastructure and public services and fostered innovation, education and skills development. Member States that joined.

Last week, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira visited Hungary to discuss how Cohesion Policy funds are helping the country to deliver on key EU priorities on the ground and promote sustainable development and welfare. She visited the Tarnabod "catching up settlement" where she met representatives of the Roma community, the Mátra lignite power plant, held meetings with Ministers Navracsics and János, with the Mayor of Budapest Karácsony and with civil society organisations.

The Grant Agreement for the Sustainable and Affordable Housing for the New Green Industry and Society (SHERIS) project, which will support the construction of 7 housing complexes in Northern Sweden, has just been signed. SHERIS is financed by the European Union under the Public Sector Loan Facility, which is part of the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM), with a grant of EUR 11 million. The grant complements a loan of EUR 71 million (SEK 800 million) awarded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), bringing the total budget for the project to EUR 142 million (SEK 1.6 billion).

On 16-17 April 2024, the 9th Just Transition Platform (JTP) Conference took place in Brussels and online. Co-hosted by DG REGIO and DG ENER, this hybrid event brought together over 1,000 registered participants, including around 300 in person, to share views and experiences on the just transition process, including the achievements of Just Transition Fund (JTF) projects so far.

The Just Transition Platform (JTP) announces the second edition peer-to-peer exchanges under the JTPeers Exchange programme.

To further reinforce and strengthen sustainable urban development in EU cities, the Commission today is launching a third call for proposals worth €90 million under the European Urban Initiative (EUI). Projects selected under this call will test innovative solutions in cities to help them to deliver on the green and digital transitions.

On 17 April 2024, the closing conference of the 2014-2020 Romania-Ukraine programme took place in Suceava. This event brought together over 250 participants from Romania and Ukraine to celebrate the achievements of cross-border cooperation projects funded by the European Union.

The European Commission is co-financing 3 projects aimed at promoting sustainable urban infrastructure and improving the energy efficiency of public buildings to the tune of EUR 7.3 million under the Public Sector Loan Facility (PSLF) of the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM). The three projects were submitted under the 5th cut-off date of PSLF, which is a blending facility that combines loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) with grants from the European Commission to support a fair and just transition towards climate neutrality across the European Union.

Over € 25 billion in 20 years, that’s what Slovakia received in Cohesion Policy support since joining the EU. This helped increase Slovakia's GDP per head to converge towards 🇪🇺 average, from 59% to 69%. All regions have benefitted from this support. (Take a look at Commissioner Ferreira's entire thread on X)

Two decades of cooperation between Hungary and the EU! Cohesion policy is supporting Hungary since accession in 2004 with almost €50 billion to help regions become more competitive, resilient & sustainable. Take a look at some examples of what Hungary has achieved with EU support in the past 20 years (on Commissioner Ferreira's entire thread on X).

Thanks to the “Port Activity App”, the Baltic ports of Rauma (Finland) and Gävle (Sweden) implement efficient port calls using real-time information.