Rozwój regionalny polski w kontekście wykorzystania środków unijnych

Regional development is an important economic category that can be considered from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. The present paper offers an academic analysis of the concept of regional development, the complexity of this process and its association with regional (cohesion) policy. In the practical sense, an attempt is made to define the size and the scale of regional development in Poland. A specific role is assigned to European cohesion policy, which, having a huge influence for development processes, is periodically re-profiled. In the next budget planning period 2014-2020 (similarly to the previous one), the new dimension of EU cohesion policy will have a strong impact on Polish regions. Its scale will depend on the shape of the European budget as well as on the acceptance of solutions suggested by the European Commission.