The spatial differentiation of the intervention of the regional policy of the EU supporting pro-environmental economic changes in Poland

Abstract

The goal of this article is to identify the environmental economic changes supported as part of the intervention of the regional policy of the EU and to identify the regional differentiation of employing the relevant funds. In the research, relative data was used from the System of Monitoring and Financial Control of Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds SIMIK 07-13. The research results indicate a wide range of the regional policy’s impact on the environment-oriented economic changes including increase in energy effectiveness, the development of renewable sources of energy, the development or rail and water transport as well as local public transport and bicycle traffic, a more rational use of water resources, enhanced protection from adverse effects of the element of water, the development of recycling, restoration of degraded land and improvement of biodiversity protection. The regional differences in the value of the related support resulted from two types of conditions: the level of anthropogenic impact and the specific environmental conditions.