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The impact of European Cohesion Policy in different contexts. Regional Studies. Cohesion Policy, an important pillar of the European Union, has always been closely scrutinized and subject to debate because of the size of the budget and supranational role of the European Commission. Recent research has acknowledged that the impact of Cohesion Policy is far from uniform; academic interest has shifted away from attempts to assess its 'total impact' towards an emphasis on the 'conditioning factors' that explain where, when and how policy is effective. This provides insights that can contribute to policy design. The five papers in this thematic issue contribute to this research agenda by showing in what contexts and under what conditions Cohesion Policy can be more effective.