Abstract
By definition sovereign, States find themselves inescapably in a situation of permanent competition. Moreover, given that an inherent quality of sovereignty is to exclude obeying whomever else, nobody, neither individuals nor institutions can arbitrate between them. This being the case, in the international arena power becomes the one and only currency. It seems basic even to each State’s survival: in this endless competition, the sustainability of each depends on the capacity to maintain a sufficient level of power.
 (Badie, 2018, p.44 translated by the author)
 What is ... needed is reflecting on new ways of adapting politics and democracy to the unique and universal world of networks...
 (Balligand and Maquart, 1990, p.219 translated by the author)
 
 The above quotes relate to the ambivalence of its members towards the European Union construct. Wishing to remain sovereign, they simultaneously acknowledge that they have to adapt to a new world. So, they conclude treaties which give the Union specific powers. Unable to unilaterally give itself powers, or ‘competences’ in EU jargon, their Union is therefore ‘intergovernmental’. If it were able to assume powers on its own, it would be like a federal state. As such, the Union could exercise some degree of ‘territoriality’, or control over its borders. As it is, it cannot.
Highlights
The above quotes relate to the ambivalence of its members towards the European Union construct
This paper shows how the issues described above played themselves out in such meagre attempts to arrive at a form of European spatial planning as have been made
Reflecting on what had led to this positive turn of events, Zetter reminisced about a tenth anniversary of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) on 11 May, 2009 – still in the future
Summary
The above quotes relate to the ambivalence of its members towards the European Union construct. Neither kept full control whether over the budget, or over spatial development because all had to observe agreed criteria and follow the same rules All this made EU regional policy a contested field; net-contributors seeking to reduce their contributions and tightening conditions put on the funding that they had to concede, and net recipients seeking to increase funding and have the same conditions relaxed. The fundamental issues lurk of: what European integration means, and who should take the lead - the Commission representing the Union, or the member states With this as a backdrop the paper discusses the twin notions of sovereignty and territoriality
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