TRANSLATION OF THE EU’S COHESION POLICY INTO REGIONAL PRACTICE - An interview study of the regional management of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) in West Sweden

Abstract: This thesis aims to analyse how different subnational actors interact in and influence the regional management of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and what challenges there are in effectively implementing the ESF+ at the subnational level. Previous research has established that the effectiveness of the EU’s Structural Funds, of which the ESF+ is a part, in general varies greatly between different European regions. This difference to a large extent depends on subnational characteristics,such as policy networks, institutional structures, and the capacity of potential beneficiaries. This thesis contributes with an analysis of what the processes and interactions related to the ESF+ looks like at the subnational level, focusing on Sweden. The region of West Sweden is used as an empirical case to capture the regional practice in detail, and the analysis is based on nine in-depth expert interviews. The thesis applies a Multi level governance (MLG) perspective to analyse the roles played by different actors. Followingly, the interviewees represent key actors at three political levels: the regional, subregional, and local level. The study’s main result is that the ESF+ in West Sweden is managed through well-functioning structures and networks by motivated and competent subnational actors, but that challenges arise in the implementation phase where coordination issues, administrative burden, and implications on the Swedish labour market hampers projects’ effectiveness. The thesis’ results contribute to the debate about the structural funds effectiveness and shows that challenges to implement the ESF+ arise also in regions with substantive capacities and robust cooperation networks.