INTERCO- Indicators of Territorial Cohesion- delivers valuable input for policy makers and scientist interested in indicators for territorial cohesion. The analytical framework developed by the research team proved to be applicable and successful in revealing the existing spatial disparities and territorial cohesion trends in Europe and can be used by policy makers at different levels.

According to the Final Report, the main results show that:

• At level of the Territorial objectives, convergence trends over the past decade were strongest for the objective of “Strong local economies ensuring global competitiveness”; however, disparities are still medium and high.
• Indicators for measuring “innovative territories” perform heterogeneously, with tertiary education showing convergence trend, while for employment disparities even increased.
• Indicators under the objective “Fair access to services, markets and job” still show the highest existing disparities over all indicators; insofar there is no fair access to markets for all people in Europe. Only accessibility potential by road and air indicator slight trends towards cohesion, while for the accessibility potential by rail in contrary existing gaps seem to become permanent.
• Indicators on “Inclusion and quality of life” yield the smallest existing disparities, but these small differences are stable over time; there has only be little development over the last years, except for the proportion of early school leavers and the disposable household income, where one could observe clear trends towards cohesion.
• Existing disparities for all indicators under the last two objectives, i.e. “Attractive regions of high ecological values and strong territorial capital” and “Integrated polycentric territorial development” are significant (medium, high and very high).
• Policy makers can also find more specific information on each of the indicators in the fact sheets.

The full report with its annexes can be found here.