Regional Policy in Europe: Which Way Forward?

Abstract

As the 1990s draw to a close, regional development in Europe is a dynamic area of policymaking, and research. At the level of the European Union, Member State governments and the European Commission are locked in a debate about how to allocate future EU expenditure for areas suffering from underdevelopment, industrial restructuring, rural decline and sparsity of population. Several national governments in Western Europe are reviewing the conceptual basis or institutional infrastructure of their regional policies. Sub-nationally, more organisations are involved in regional and local development than ever before, including not just ‘traditional’ actors such as local/regional authorities and development agencies but also the private sector, environmental organisations, voluntary bodies and community groups. A plethora of partnerships, networks and coalitions is influencing the design and administration of policy. The evaluation of policies and programmes is becoming more commonplace across Western Europe. In the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe, market-oriented regional policies are starting to appear with new legislation, institutions and instruments to address widening regional disparities.