"The European citizens are more and more aware of the benefits offered by the regional policy, to which over one third of the EU budget is allocated, to their cities or regions": this has been found by a survey conducted by Eurobarometer on the perception of the territorial cohesion policy in the 27 member states. According to the interviewees, the regional policy should be "even more ambitious" and face "the new challenges, such as the fight against climate change, globalisation and demographic change". The MEP Danuta Hübner claims: "This survey confirms that the Europeans are confident in the results of the cohesion policy, they think not only that we have to keep supporting the poorer regions of Europe and help them make up for lost time but they also think that it should support the whole of the EU regions". In this sense, the EU "must gear up to respond to such expectations". According to Eurobarometro, "half of the interviewees state that they are aware of the support given by the cohesion policy to their regions or cities". Such awareness "is higher in the 12 new member states (60%) than in the old member states (47%)". (continued)
