The European Union has developed a sophisticated and quite well-funded regional policy administered through its various structural funds. This policy now faces a number of severe challenges. Market forces are bringing about convergence at a snail's pace. With the regional impacts of the single market and monetary union ahead, and with the threat of enlargement to the east looming, reform is an urgent priority. Unfortunately, the existing policy structure is inadequate for the challenges ahead. This paper considers the weaknesses of the current policy and urges a radical shake-up.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Armstrong, H. W.1994. The regional policy of the European Union. In The economics of the new Europe: From community to union, ed. N. M. Healey.London: Routledge.
2.
Armstrong, H. W.1995a. Convergence among regions of the European Union, 1950-90. Papers in Regional Science74: 143–52.
3.
Armstrong, H. W.1995b. Regional growth within the European Union: A reappraisal of the cross-sectional evidence.Lancaster: Lancaster University, Department of Economics Discussion Paper.
4.
Armstrong, H. W.1995c. The regional growth process in the European Union. In Convergence and divergence in European regions, eds. H. W. Armstrong, and R. W. Vickerman.London: Pion.
5.
Armstrong, H. W.1995d. Trends and disparities in regional GDP per capita in the European Union, United States of America, and Australia. Brussels: European Commission (DGXVI), unpublished.
6.
Armstrong, H. W., J. Taylor, and A. Williams1994. Regional policy. In The economics of the European Union, eds. M. J. Artis, and N. Lee.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7.
Armstrong, H. W., and R. W. Vickerman1995. Convergence and divergence in European regions.London: Pion.
8.
Artis, M. J., ed. 1996. The U.K. economy: A manual of applied economics.14th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9.
Bachtler, J.1995. Regional policy and social cohesion in the European Union. In Convergence and divergence in European regions, eds. H. W. Armstrong, and R. W. Vickerman. London: Pion.
10.
Baldwin, R. E.1994. Towards an integrated Europe.London: Centre for Economic Policy Research.
11.
Barro. R., and X. Sala-i-Martin.1991. Convergence across states and regions. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Macroeconomics1:107–82.
12.
Barro, R., and X. Sala-i-Martin.1992. Convergence. Journal of Political Economy100: 223–51.
13.
Boltho, A.1990. European and United States regional differentials: A note. Oxford Review of Economic Policy5: 105–15.
14.
Button, K., and E. Pentecost1995. Regional economic convergence in the U.K. and Germany. In Convergence and divergence in European regions, eds. H. W. Armstrong, and R. W. Vickerman.London: Pion.
15.
Canova, F., and A. Marcet1995. The poor stay poor: Nonconvergence across countries and regions.London: Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper 1265.
16.
Cardoso, A. R.1993. Regional inequalities in Europe: Have they been increasing. Applied Economics25: 1093–100.
17.
Cheshire, P. C., and G. Carbonaro1995. Spatial processes in the economic growth of city regions: Evidence from the 1980s. In Convergence and divergence in European regions, eds. H. W. Armstrong, and R. W. Vickerman.London: Pion.
18.
Commission of the European Communities.1989. Guide to the reform of the Community's structural funds.Brussels/Luxembourg: EUR-OP.
19.
Commission of the European Communities.1993a. Community structural funds 1994-99.Brussels/Luxembourg: EUR-OP.
20.
Commission of the European Communities.1993b. Growth, competitiveness, and employment: The challenges and ways forward into the 21st century: White paper.Brussels/Luxembourg: EUR-OP.
21.
European Commission.1996. Structural funds and cohesion fund 1994-99.Brussels/Luxembourg: EUR-OP.
22.
European Parliament.1991. A new strategy for social and economic cohesion after 1992.Brussels: European Parliament. Study by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, London.
23.
Garcia-Greciano, B., and J. R. Cuadrado Roura.1995. Association between European, national, and regional growth and convergence. Paper presented at the 35th European Congress of the Regional Science Association, Odense, Denmark.
24.
Keating, M., and B. Jones1995. The European Union and the regions.2d ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
25.
Mas, M., F. Perez, and E. Uriel1995. Growth and convergence in Spanish provinces. In Convergence and divergence in European regions, eds. H. W. Armstrong, and R. W. Vickerman.London: Pion.
26.
Neven, D., and C. Gouyette1994. Regional convergence in the European Community. Journal of Common Market Studies33: 47–65.
27.
Prud'homme, R.1993. The potential role of the EC budget in the reduction of spatial disparities in a European economic and monetary union. In European economy: Reports and studies: The economics of community public finance.Brussels/Luxembourg: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.
28.
Quah, D.1993a. Galton's fallacy and tests of the convergence hypothesis. Scandinavian Journal of Economics95: 427–43.
29.
Quah, D.1993b. Empirical cross-section dynamics in economic growth. European Economic Review37: 426–34.
30.
Sala-i-Martin, X.1994. Cross-sectional regressions and the empirics of economic growth. European Economic Review38: 739–47.
31.
U.K. House of Commons, Trade and Industry Committee.1994. Competitiveness of U.K. manufacturing industry.London: HMSO.
32.
U.K. Parliament.1994Competitiveness: Helping business to win. Cmnd. 2563. London: HMSO.
33.
U.K. Parliament.1996. Competitiveness: Creating the enterprise centre of Europe. Cmnd. 3300. London: HMSO.
