Cohesion Policy Contributing to Territorial Cohesion – Future Scenarios
Abstract
The Barca Report advocates for developmental policies to be 'place-based': integrated as far as they affect 'places'. The debate on territorial cohesion is equally concerned with integrating relevant policies and actions. This requires well-established democratic institutions and adequate responses to the demands of technical systems and of markets. Following Lisbeth Hooghe and Gary Marks, the respective arrangements are described as Governance Type I and Type II. All levels of government, including that of the EU, partake in both types, but relations between them are problematic, particularly in the context of Europe 2020: Will this EU strategy be mainly a matter for Directorate-Generals and their various clients pursuing their policies (Governance Type II), or will Cohesion policy, with its more integrated and decentralised approach, involving many levels of government and stakeholders (Governance Type I) form platforms for integrating them? This paper presents four scenarios; each based on a combination of strong/weak Governance Type I and Type II, which are labelled as the 'Anglo-Saxon', 'Saint-Simonian', 'Rhineland' and the 'European' Scenarios. The authors prefer the latter, but the best one can hope for in the short term is for this option not to fall by the wayside. ; The paper is published by the European Journal of Spatial Development (EJSD). The previous version of the journal was host by Nordregio.
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