Poland takes over the Presidency of the European Union in July 2011. Three key priorities are at the core of its Presidency: cohesion policy, common agricultural policy and Eastern partnership. The Polish Presidency is organising many events. By clicking on "read more" you can see the programme of the Polish Presidency as well as the key messages delivered after a meeting of Ministers responsible for EU cohesion Policy (Regional Policy), Territorial and Urban Development held in Poznan on 24-25 November, 2011. Several statements have been drawn on the Polish Presidency.

In April 2011, the European Union launches a Strategy for the Danube Region.

In 2011 the European Commission published several communications concerning the Single Market and the support to services of general interest. First in April “Single Market Act. Twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence - Working together to create new growth”.  Then in December on ”Quality framework for services of general interest in the EU”. Moreover the Council of the European Union also published in March its “Conclusions on a better functioning Single Market for services. Mutual evaluation process of the Services directive”.

The Fifth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion published in November 2010 presents the progress made in terms of cohesion in Europe and analyses the contribution of the European regional development policies as well as the ones of the national and regional public authorities to the reduction of disparities. Finally, it presents the future of the cohesion policy post-2013.

The Polish Ministry of Regional development has recently published a volume on regional policies resulting from discussions and conferences carried out on the issue. The document aims at contributing to the debate on the future of the regional development in Europe. Several authors have contributed to the volume and have emphasized the need for a paradigm shift in the approach of regional policy in Europe.