Projects contributing to the economic and social cohesion between the regions in the EU must remain an EU investment policy priority, a European Parliament resolution indicates.

Besides priority EU funding, these regions need strategies that will provide the population prospects. Bulgarian MEP Georgi Pirinski stated that there are 47 regions in Europe which are lagging behind, regions with high unemployment, poverty, social exclusion and few investments. The said regions are in 8 EU countries, and are divided up into regions with a GDP close to the EU average, but with a low growth rate (in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal) and regions with a low GDP but with a good growth rate (in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Poland). Almost 1 in 6 EU citizens live in regions that are lagging behind (83 million people), 32 million of whom in regions with low incomes and 51 million – in regions with a low growth rate.