La Cohesión territorial: Unión Europea y fondos estructurales

Abstract

Although regional policies played only a marginal role in the first stages of the EEC’s development, since the beginning of the 1970s, their significance has gradually increased and they have gone on to become the EU’s second largest spending item. This article goes over the meaning, options and results of the community’s intervention in territorial cohesion. In doing so, the first section analyses the arguments normally put forward when justifying public sector involvement in territorial cohesion. Later, it analyses the reasons that this action is also taken, although not only from a community perspective. Having clarified these aspects, an overview for the different options for intervention is provided in the third section together with explanations regarding their economic implications. Later, the results obtained from various attempts to measure the impact of Community policy in this area are revised. Finally, the spatial implications of new technologies are explored and the simplistic view that these technologies will eliminate the space between us is criticized.