ABSTRACT
Competitive markets may generate considerable inequality. Government intervention is then required to reduce this inequality by redistribution. The EU creates a need for such redistribution on the European scale. To approximate the development of cohesion, one can follow over time the development of indicators on the disparity between member countries and regions. The total size of the structural funds devoted to regional development has been gradually stepped up with the increasing needs of the less advantaged regions and the increasing accent on cohesion. The promotion of social cohesion requires the reduction in disparities, which arise from unequal access to employment opportunities. Many other social problems are aggravated by the unemployment problem, so it is only logical that the EU has placed the fight against unemployment at the centre of its policy actions.
