Core–Periphery Relations in the European Union and the Role of Central Places in Europe with a Focus on Regional Policy in Britain and Germany

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bennett C. Thomas

Core–periphery analysis is vital to an understanding of the European Union (EU) and regional development. The European Economic Community (EEC), which would eventually become the EU, was formed in 1957 in order to promote progressive economic integration. Recognizing that there were depressed regions within both peripheral and core nation-states, the EC adopted a programme with the goal of bringing those regions into convergence. Its programme is essentially a liberal centre–periphery model similar to the one proposed by Friedman. Many of the nation-states within the EC also have their own regional policies and programmes regarding intervention within their own spatial boundaries. To present an approach for comparison this article will focus on two examples of regional policy: Britain's attitude toward regional development in the North and the German programme for integrating East Germany.

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3(68)) ◽  
pp. 206-216
Author(s):  
I.A. TSYNALIEVSKA ◽  
ZH.G. NAUMENKO

Topicality. One of the main tasks of the state regional policy is to stimulate the development of the regions, and, taking into account the successful experience of the European Union countries on this issue, the primary task and the main goal of the state regional policy should be connected with to reduction of disproportions of social and ecological and economic development. Balanced development of the regions is a necessary prerequisite to achieve the effectiveness of the state regional policy, which will ensure the social and economic development of the country as a whole. State regional policy requires that achievement of its goals should be gained by means of modern mutually interconnected mechanisms, as well as, provision of them with all the necessary resources for their implementation. Taking into account the experience of developed countries and the goals set in many normative and strategic documents of Ukraine on reducing the disproportionate development of regions, it is necessary to consider positive trends in preventing and overcoming divergent processes on the basis of reducing regional development imbalances in a context of the administrative-territorial reform of Ukraine and creation of new effective tools for legal and institutional structural impact on the development of regions of Ukraine. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to study an experience of the European Union countries regarding the assessment of disproportionality in development of regions and measures aimed at reducing regional development imbalances, as well as the implementation of such experience in accordance with Ukrainian realities. Moreover, a scope of objectives of the current study includes allocation mechanisms of regional policy of the EU according to characteristics of the areas that are subject to state intervention for a further implementation of the positive experience of the EU countries in the aspect of overcoming the disproportions of regional development, as well as, development of practical recommendations for improving institutional support and assessment tools for measuring disparities of regional development in Ukraine. Research results. A foreign experience regarding assessment of regional disproportions is being considered within the article. Approaches to selection of indicators for assessment of disproportionality of regional development and features for definition of indicators, which perform as stimulators or as de-stimulators in different countries depending on local features of territorial development, - are analyzed. It was found that the practical difficulties arising from the use of GRP per capita, as a universal indicator characterizing the level of economic development of the region in the EU countries, - are related to a difficulty in choosing of method for determining the of output volume in conditions where activity goes beyond regional boundaries because of the fact that national statistical offices apply different approaches to calculation of this indicator. It was established that the development of a method for assessing of intra-regional disproportionality in the development of regions in Ukraine is complicated due to lack of a necessary statistical base provided by all necessary indicators at all levels; therefore, the proposed algorithm for comparing statistical information on monitoring of different levels of development of the country's territories will enable further development of a set of mechanisms that will stimulate socio-ecological and economic development at the regional level and will increase a regional competitiveness. The article provides recommendations on methodical provision of state evaluation of disproportionate development of the regions of the country; and proposes an algorithm for the implementation of statistical information on monitoring the levels of development of regions based on the European experience of organizing statistical and territorial division on economic grounds. Conclusions. It has been established that in different countries of the European Union there are different approaches and methods used to identify areas in which disproportions of development are inherent; factors that serve as a source of developmental imbalances are also perceived differently, hence the choice of indicators that can be used to measure the detected imbalances is a subject of consideration by each EU country separately. In some EU countries, as in Ukraine, there is a problem with the collection and processing of statistical information at the NUTS III level, which corresponds to the Ukrainian administrative-territorial division of rayon level (district) or a group of rayons (group of districts). Development of the method for assessing of intra regional disproportionality in the development of regions in Ukraine is complicated due to lack of adequate statistical base provided with all necessary indicators at all levels, therefore the proposed, within the current study, - algorithm for comparing statistical information on monitoring of different levels of development of territories of the country will provide further development of a set of mechanisms that will stimulate social and ecological and economic development and increase the regional competitiveness. Methodological basis for assessing of disproportionality of a regional development is the subject for further research in this area and provide a perspective for a study of intra-regional disproportions of development as a separate issue in the context of administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine.


Author(s):  
Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot

CESAA 17TH ANNUAL EUROPE ESSAY COMPETITION 2009 - Honours winner: Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot, Monash UniversityOver the past decades, the European Union has witnessed an increasing apathy among European citizens’ vis-à-vis EU institutions. In 1993, EU elites formally introduced the idea of a ‘European citizenship’ in an attempt on the one hand, to reactivate the European integration project, and, on the other hand, to foster greater consciousness of the European identity which the EU is supposed to represent. What opportunities and challenges would Turkey’s accession to EU membership have on our idea of ‘European citizenship’ and ‘identity’? An analysis on the current debate regarding Turkey’s possible accession in the EU raises significant questions on the EU’s identity and on the role of the EU in the international community.


Author(s):  
Ahmet İncekara ◽  
Burcu Kılınç Savrul

Regional policy of the European Union (EU) is implemented in order to improve welfare and quality of life in specific regions of EU member countries, minimize inter-regional income differences and restructure less developed industrial areas. regions of the EU countries has urban and regional development differences in themselves. Regional policies have gained importance in the process of EU enlargement. Increases regional disparities has been observed to occur with the first expansion. Although the tools that the Community could use for regional inequality were initially limited, they began to increase over the years in the process of development of regional policy of the EU. In this respect, this study will focus primarily on the EU regional development policies, the structural funds in line with the measures taken to ensure economic and social cohesion in EU countries and European Investment Bank and the new tools such as community tool will be discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.G. Arushanyan

The role of processes of regionalization and decentralization in the development of regional resource potential through the implementation of the principles of perfect management on the example of European countries is explored. It turns out that the experience of developing the resource potential of the regions of the European Union (EU) is relevant to Ukraine, since it can be applied in different conditions. It is determined that the main objective of the EU regional policy is to reduce inequalities in the levels of development of the resource potential of the most developed and most backward regions. The peculiarities of state regulation of development of resource potential of the region are considered on the example of Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden. It is concluded that the effectiveness of the development of the resource potential of each region depends to a large extent on the coordinated activity of all administrative-territorial structures and state regulation of socio-economic processes. Direct implementation of the policy should be carried out by the coordinating authorities of the appropriate level of management.


2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 935-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris Larik

AbstractAfter the Lisbon Treaty, the objectives of the European Union are more numerous and ambitious than ever. But what is their importance and function within the ‘thickening’ legal order of the EU? Combining insights from both the law of international organizations and comparative constitutional law, the article traces the diverging role of objectives for, on the one hand, a traditional international organization marked by the principle of ‘speciality’ and, on the other, a maturing legal order increasingly exhibiting ‘constitutional’ traits. It argues that in the case of the EU, objectives and competences have developed into two related but distinct norm categories. While objectives serve to bolster arguments to shape such powers, they no longer represent a rationale in their own right for founding competences. The EU no longer justifies its existence solely by striving for a particular set of goals. Rather, these norms represent an entrenched duty to pursue these objectives through the actors, structures and procedures available, regardless of the Union's ultimate form (finalité). Today, the EU stands for certain values and has been endowed with powers, the exercise of which is guided by promoting these various aspects of the ‘common good’.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (Vol 18, No 4 (2019)) ◽  
pp. 439-453
Author(s):  
Ihor LISHCHYNSKYY

The article is devoted to the study of the implementation of territorial cohesion policy in the European Union in order to achieve a secure regional coexistence. In particular, the regulatory and institutional origins of territorial cohesion policy in the EU are considered. The evolution of ontological models of cohesion policy has been outlined. Specifically, the emphasis is placed on the key objective of political geography – effectively combining the need for "territorialization" and the growing importance of networking. The role of urbanization processes in the context of cohesion policy is highlighted. Cross-border dimensions of cohesion policy in the context of interregional cooperation are explored. Particular emphasis is placed on the features of integrated sustainable development strategies.


Author(s):  
Antoine Vandemoorteele

This article analyzes the role of the European Union (EU) and Canada in the promotion of Security Sector Reforms (SSR) activities in two regional organizations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The concept of SSR seeks to address the effective governance of security in post-conflict environment by transforming the security institutions within a country in order for them to have more efficient, legitimate and democratic role in implementing security. Recent debates within the EU have led to the adoption of an SSR concept from the Council and a new strategy from the European Commission on the SSR activities. Within the framework of the ESDP, the EU has positioned itself as a leading actor, in this domain, including in its crisis management operations. On the other hand, Canada, through its whole-of government and human security programs has also been an important actor in the promotion of SSR activities. Yet, even though several international organizations (including the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO) are effectively doing SSR activities on the ground, there does not exist a common framework within any of these organizations despite the role of the EU and Canada. As such, it is surprising to found no global common policy for SSR while this approach is precisely holistic in its foundations. Taking these elements into consideration, this paper analyzes two specific aspects : a) the absence of a common policy framework within international organizations and b) the major differences between the approaches of the OSCE and NATO in the domain of SSR and the implications for the EU and Canada’ roles.   Full extt available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v3i2.186


Author(s):  
Graham Butler

Not long after the establishment of supranational institutions in the aftermath of the Second World War, the early incarnations of the European Union (EU) began conducting diplomacy. Today, EU Delegations (EUDs) exist throughout the world, operating similar to full-scale diplomatic missions. The Treaty of Lisbon established the legal underpinnings for the European External Action Service (EEAS) as the diplomatic arm of the EU. Yet within the international legal framework, EUDs remain second-class to the missions of nation States. The EU thus has to use alternative legal means to form diplomatic missions. This chapter explores the legal framework of EU diplomatic relations, but also asks whether traditional missions to which the VCDR regime applies, can still be said to serve the needs of diplomacy in the twenty-first century, when States are no longer the ultimate holders of sovereignty, or the only actors in international relations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 06026
Author(s):  
Oleksii Klok ◽  
Olha Loseva ◽  
Oleksandr Ponomarenko

The article studies theoretical and methodological bases of the strategic management of the development of administrative territories, considers the essence of strategic management and formulates the advantages of using it in management of administrative territory. Based on the analysis of the key provisions of the EU regional policy, the strategy of “smart specialization” is considered as the most common approach to territorial development. Using the experience of the countries of the European Union as a basis, a BPMN diagram, describing the conceptual bases for the formation of a competitive territory strategy, was built. Practical approaches to the formation of strategies for the development of administrative territories operating in Ukraine, regulatory acts, in particular, that had a direct impact on the formation of the existing model of strategic territorial management, were analyzed. The main requirements to the content of the strategic plan were considered and the list of key provisions and analytical methods (socio-economic analysis, comparative analysis, SWOT-analysis, PESTLE-analysis, sociological analysis) was formulated. Using the comparative legal analysis of the experience of the European Union as a basis, a number of features can be highlighted that must be taken into account in the process of forming the administrative territory development strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Eva Eckert ◽  
Oleksandra Kovalevska

In the European Union, the concern for sustainability has been legitimized by its politically and ecologically motivated discourse disseminated through recent policies of the European Commission and the local as well as international media. In the article, we question the very meaning of sustainability and examine the European Green Deal, the major political document issued by the EC in 2019. The main question pursued in the study is whether expectations verbalized in the Green Deal’s plans, programs, strategies, and developments hold up to the scrutiny of critical discourse analysis. We compare the Green Deal’s treatment of sustainability to how sustainability is presented in environmental and social science scholarship and point out that research, on the one hand, and the politically motivated discourse, on the other, do not correlate and often actually contradict each other. We conclude that sustainability discourse and its keywords, lexicon, and phraseology have become a channel through which political institutions in the EU such as the European Commission sideline crucial environmental issues and endorse their own presence. The Green Deal discourse shapes political and institutional power of the Commission and the EU.


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