The European Union's cohesion policy for the years 2021-2027 in Poland in the face of the fourth industrial revolution

Purpose of the study: The article aims to present the direction of the European Union’s cohesion policy in the years 2021-2027 in Poland in the face of the challenges posed by the fourth industrial revolution. Methodology: In the first stage, the analysis and synthesis of the views included in the literature regarding the fourth industrial revolution were made. In the next stage, the most important challenges to public policies in the analysed sphere were presented. The second part of the work analyzes the draft partnership agreement for the implementation of the cohesion policy for the years 2021-2027 in the context of the challenges posed by the fourth industrial revolution. Main Findings: The fourth industrial revolution is an ongoing, changing process, which soon will become a challenge in the public policy sphere. The cohesion policy, being the axis of development policies in particular member states of the European Union, includes these changes' assumptions through the support of technological development and changes in the socio-economic structure. Applications of this study: The results of this research allow us to decide on the effectiveness of strategic planning and its compatibility with the predicted trends of socio-economic evolution. They also allow verifying the assumptions of the cohesion policy on the regional level. The originality of this study: In the following paper, the research on the assumptions of the cohesion policy in the face of the new challenges of the fourth industrial revolution was made. It is worth highlighting that this sphere of the new perspective of the cohesion policy - due to the fact that it is still being shaped- has not been a research subject yet.