Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion a Priority for Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria: Comparative Analysis on Social Cohesion

Abstract

The cohesion policy of European Union is actually its strategic investments’ policy. The Union’s values are freedom, equality, the rule of law, respect for human dignity, non-discrimination regarding persons belonging to minorities, non-discrimination, including here gender equality. One of the main objectives of the European Union is aimed at the sustainable development of Europe, by achieving high employment levels and social progress along with economic growth. Therefore, social cohesion is an important part of the cohesion policy. In the last decade, the European Union was faced with threats; some continue to be present, such as the last major financial and economic crisis, followed by the sovereign debts’ crisis and a social crisis with effects that are still reverberating, including the security issues due to the instability in the neighborhood areas, but also in some key member states. In this paper, we present a framework of social cohesion in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, by using methods as synthesis, observation and scientific analyses. The research was based on statistical data provided by EUROSTAT, on the period 2007–2017.