Exploring innovative strategies and approaches arising from EU funds, mechanisms and tools to counter regional and local disparities

The regional disparity also affects EU member state regions despite the countries' level of development and growth. In fact, the EU Regional Policy, also known as the Cohesion Policy, reflects the commitment over the years to address regional and local inequalities in an attempt to enhance job opportunities, socioeconomic growth, and territorial cohesion. Moreover, the policy also aims to overcome territorial imbalances, dealing with complex problems such as depopulation and other demographic trends, geomorphological conditions, hydrogeological instabilities, and inefficient essential services (healthcare, mobility, and education). These problems are usually encountered in fragile peripheral areas. In this context, the Italian Strategy for Inner Areas is a virtuous example of a laboratory testing new approaches interrelated to EU Cohesion Policy, multilevel governance, integrated territorial development, and the place-based approach. A key point of the strategy is the power given to the local level. Although the central and regional levels influence regulation, time frame set, and funding allocation, it is at the local level where territorial issues, challenges, barriers, and opportunities are identified. Following stakeholder processes, local development projects are later outlined, completing the local strategy report. This procedure is supposed to be in line with the municipal diagnosis but also follow the related Regional Operational Programme and, as a consequence, the EU's thematic objectives or priorities. Besides strongly supporting its occurrence, the link between the Italian policy and the European Union has brought concrete possibilities to correct existing imbalances around the country. Thus, the research objective is to analyse the innovative strategies and approaches employed and neglected through this agreement, having the Inner Area of Alto Lago di Como e Valli del Lario, Northern Italy, as the case study (local level). The research methodology explores the EU's structural and investment funds, mechanisms, tools, and official national and local strategy documents. The investigation of European and Italian frameworks has generated reflections, insights and findings regarding the benefits of constructing such a strategy, the added challenges and barriers, as well as the neglected mechanisms and disjointedness at different levels of government. The policy analysis indicates that the supranational level was vital for the feasibility of the national strategy – since the major funds have originated from the EU. Also, the European Union provided guidance throughout its conceptual frameworks, reports, objectives, and priorities axes. The thematic objectives have driven the decision of the inner area's goals and local development projects, demonstrating a degree of coherence and a common vision for all member states to follow. Moreover, it is worth pointing out the possibilities arising from the EU funds, integrated sustainable urban development practices, and mechanisms such as Integrated Territorial Investment and Community-Led Local Development. Regarding the central level, the policymakers created an interest arrangement that made it possible and facilitated all inner areas' requests for assorted funds. This relationship enabled the municipalities to claim up to four funds (ERDF, ESF, EAFRD, EMFF). Still, the national strategy has suggested combining the Italian tool Project Framework Agreement and EU mechanisms. The 'power' given to the municipalities as policy- and decision-makers demonstrated flexibility, confidence, and decentralisation of tasks and decisions to approach the local level. However, the projects do not communicate beyond the inner area's boundaries or reproduce a common vision with medium- and long-term interventions to positively impact and reinforce the municipalities as a new area. Another missed opportunity regarding the inner area was not employing any of the EU mechanisms – showing a lack of unity and alignment with upper levels of government. The Integrated Territorial Investment, for instance, could be a means to improve the infrastructure linking Lake Como to the mountains and public works, delivering better connections among the lake shores. This mechanism admits the combination of more than one fund and priority axe, increasing the chances of success. The Community Led Local Development could be applied to assist the territory recognition in a more structured and unitary way, creating a basis for a long-term cooperation between multiple actors. From a positive point of view, parallel strategies, programmes and actions are taking place due to the regional activity. The advent of the national strategy 'obliged' 34 municipalities and several local actors to work together for months to re-think Alto Lago di Como e Valli del Lario's territory and the near future. Finally, it can be argued that the agreement between Italian policy and the EU generated concrete conditions to tackle complex problems in inner areas. Nevertheless, the selected inner area should have made better use of EU mechanisms in an attempt to avoid mismatches about the local interventions, which most concentrate on specific municipal issues. Building a long-term vision and regular contact with upper levels and experts appears accurate in taking advantage of available opportunities and pursuing a more coherent, aligned and responsive framework to counter regional and local disparities.