How resilient are European countries and regions?

The coronavirus crisis and its continuing effects on European economies has propelled the debate about crisis resistance and resilience firmly back onto the EU agenda. This policy brief sheds light on the degree of resilience within EU regions in terms of diversity, skills, innovation and quality of government prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. In particular, South and Eastern Europe as well as rural regions more remote from metropolitan areas show values below average. Although the short-term assistance for overcoming the coronavirus crisis is indispensable, in the long run the EU’s structural and cohesion funds should be scaled up and allocated more efficiently to these structurally fragile regions. This will improve economic resilience within Europe and accelerate the cohesion process.