Open Access 2016 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
EU Cohesion Policy and Microfinance
The aim of ensuring a balanced development of the territory of the European Union as well as equal social and economic opportunities to all individuals in the EU member states led European Union institutions to activate a number of financial instruments that may allow reducing the current structural economic gaps between different regions in Europe and establishing a regional development policy based on the concepts of economic, social solidarity and cohesion.1