URDICO - Urban Dimension of Cohesion Policy and other EU Programmes. Annex 1: Case studies

This comparative report analyses the role of eight European cities - Budapest, Florence, Ghent, Prague, Rot-terdam, Strasbourg, Valencia, and Warsaw - within the EU Cohesion Policy framework, across the 2014–2020 and 2021–2027 programming periods. The project examines how the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy has been implemented, how cities interact with national and regional authorities, and how they align EU funds with their long-term local agendas. This report indicates that cities are contributing to the implementation of the Cohesion Policy to some extent. Yet, their influence and capacity to act vary widely. In countries such as France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Re-public, and Belgium, cities such as Strasbourg, Florence, Warsaw, and Prague play strategic roles as Interme-diate Bodies. At the same time, Ghent has a co-steering role in the Antwerp-Ghent ITI (in the 2021-2027 pe-riod). Conversely, in a centralised system like Hungary, cities such as Budapest face limited autonomy. An exception is Rotterdam, which is the only city recognised as a Managing Authority. Methodologically, the analysis draws from harmonised case studies, expert interviews, EU data (e.g., Kohesio), and stakeholder workshops. It compares governance structures, funding instruments, administrative capacity, and institu-tional innovations. The report also reflects on the interplay between Cohesion Policy and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which has exposed governance asymmetries: while some cities (Florence, Valencia) used RRF to reinforce integrated strategies, others (Rotterdam, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw) were marginal-ised due to national-level gatekeeping or differences in perspectives between national and city level. Finally, the report provides a preliminary discussion on the role of cities in the new Multiannual Financial Frame-work, offering arguments in relation to the regulatory proposals.