Over the past months the dominant narrative concerning the European Union has been one of fragmentation.  Two factors come to mind: the initial botched response to the coronavirus pandemic where Member States rushed to close off borders in panic in an uncoordinated approach, and the North-South, West-East squabbles on migration. Both clear signs of a community which is finding it harder to mobilise collective action, particularly as it finds opposition from strongmen, populist leaders across the continent. To top it all, one of its most challenging, but important members, the United Kingdom, will be formalising its exit within a couple of months.

Yet, there is another story about what European integration is all about.

A story which brings together 27 Member States with different languages, traditions and cultures, a mere 70 years after fighting out against each other bloody wars for the best part of their existence. A cursory look at European history shows a continent that has lost too many lives because of conflict. Today, we take peace and stability as a basic tenet of our continent.

This unity has been challenged by some rough times throughout these past decades, such as the huge energy crisis in the Seventies, the divisions on War in Iraq as well as the economic and financial crisis of 2008-9. Yet, the European project, continued to grow, as increasing millions of citizens travelled across the continent for work, leisure, education and business.

Amongst the reasons for this success, one  in particular strikes out: the EU’s Cohesion Policy. This is the concept by which the EU is not solely interested in improving the bloc’s prosperity – something which very few would care to deny it has achieved – but rather to ensure that no country, region or territory is left behind.

The Cohesion Policy seeks to address development disparities by ensuring financial support that targets transformation and covergence. The EU’s Economic and Social Cohesion Policy is the principal tool through which the Union seeks to improve the quality of lives through hundreds of thousands of projects all over Europe that receive funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund.

These funds have already made a huge, visible differences in our daily lives in a mere 16 years of Maltese membership in the EU. Malta has used more than €1.5 billion on a variety of initiatives which have improved our educational and health facilities, restored historical sites to their original beauty, trained thousands of individuals in accessing a better – or even a first – job  and supported numerous businesses in their road towards innovation, internationalisation and growth.

However, the benefit of these projects goes beyond mere economic growth. European values – freedom, democracy, gender equality and non-discrimation are  all placed at the centre of projects financed by EU Cohesion policy, thereby ensuring that such values are spread among a greater cohort of the population.

Despite the long-term objetive of these funds, the Cohesion Policy was quickly adapted to Europe’s most pressing needs, when, at the onset of the pandemic, the European Commission green-lighted Member States in adapting funding available to them to tackle with immediacy issues relating to the current pandemic.

Thanks to the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative, Member States were able to address three key priorities in the fight against the current emergency and its economic consequences: investment related to healthcare, support to short time work schemes, and support to the SMEs working capital.

As Europe recovers from the serious economic hit that the pandemic will have caused in 2020, economic regeneration will be fundamental to ensure recovery and avoid that what started as a health crisis lingers into years of social trouble. At this juncture, the EU’s Cohesion Policy – with a significantly strengthened budget – represents the perfect opportunity to strengthen European Integration, supporting economies to rise back from the ashes, addressing the fundamental long-term challenges of the European Union, and finally delivering in practice on the mantra of a Europe that wants to be closer to its citizens.

This article is part of the OurEU.mt campaign, which is being managed by CiConsulta's ComuniqEU, with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of CiConsulta and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.