THE IMPACT OF EU REGIONAL POLICY ON PERCEPTIONS OF THE EU AND THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFICATION WITH THE EU

Abstract

Despite the constantly increasing interest in studying European identity in recent decades, the impact of EU Regional policy on the perceptions and process of identification of European citizens with the EU remains a largely unexplored academic domain. The main question addressed in the article is whether EU Regional policy could contribute to positive citizens' identification with the EU. The study presents the results of the author's qualitative research conducted in Bulgaria analyzed comparatively with the data obtained within the framework of the international study COHESIFY.