The Geography of European Integration

1. The Geography of European Integration The Emergence of the Region

2. The Perspective of Geography • Geography is about place, or space (spatiality), considered within several different spatial contexts • Physical (rivers, mountains, soil types, climate types, etc.) • Economic (agriculture, industry) • Social (population, immigration, education, families) • Cultural (language, religion) • Political (bordered states and administrative units)

3. The Perspective (cont’d-1) • European integration builds on, or recombines, these different spatial elements • European integration radically reconfigures one of them: the political • From the political territorial unit of the nation-state, and the international relations system built on the nation-state, to “something else”

4. The Perspective (cont’d-2) • From this radical reconfiguration of the political context, new geographical possibilities emerge • The Region and the Inter-region • Geographical considerations loom large in particular domains of EC/EU activity: • Balance among the different spatial parts of unified Europe in terms of benefits and costs of integration: the key role of “Cohesion” • Transport and communications as major connecting mechanisms • Social and Environmental “fall-out” from integrating actions

5. Regions in the EU • Concept of the Region (ref: Michael Keating, The New Regionalism in Western Europe) • Multiple ideas: sub-national, supra-national, cross-border • Multiple aspects: physical, economic, cultural, administrative, political • Functional regions (convenient units of policy cooperation or implementation) • Identity regions [strong feeling of “oneness” based on some characteristic(s), sometimes with aspiration to political autonomy] • A territorial concept, with “elusive” territorial identity

6. Regions in the EU (cont’d-1) • Some examples of Regions • Mediterranean region (southern Europe) • Flemish, Basque, Scottish “regions” • The German Laender (formal units of government) • The French administrative regions (created by the central government)

7. Regions in the EU (cont’d-2) • Regional implications of EC/EU actions • Regional disparities, especially from implementation of Single Market • Consensus of the scholarly literature: market integration exacerbates territorial disparities, making marginal regions even more marginal (M. Keating) • Problems specific to new, poorer members (eg Greece, Spain, Portugal in 1980s) • Complex emergence of both new opportunities and new challenges for regions

8. Regions in the EU(cont’d-3) • Interaction with “the Social” • Disparities for Social Groups as well as for Regions, from same causes • Environmental policy as a favored site for Regional and Social initiatives

9. The EC/EU Story of the Regions • Story of “the Funds” • European Social Fund and European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Treaty of Rome, 1958) • European Regional Development Fund (1975) • Transfers of share of EC budget to poorest regions • Cohesion policy (1986 SEA, 1992 TEU and onward) • Offset burden of single market for southern Member States and less favored regions

10. The Story of the Regions (cont’d-1) • Creation of Structural Funds (1989-93) • Merger of: Social Fund, Regional Development Fund, Guidance Section of Agricultural Fund • A genuine regional policy made possible, with the Commission at the lead: Regional Policy DG • Creation of Cohesion Fund (TEU 1992) • Fisheries Guidance fund created and added to Structural Funds (1994-99) • Committee of the Regions (TEU 1992) • Today’s allocation of funds (2000-2006) • 213B euros (1/3 of Community budget) • 195B for Structural Funds • 18B for Cohesion Funds

11. The Story of the Regions (cont’d-2) • Regions and Regionalism with the EU • Broad shift in attitudes of regional interest groups • From anti-European integration in 1970s to pro-European integration from mid-1980s • EU regarded by “Regionalists” as beneficial for both material support (structural funds, etc.) and political mobilization of the region • Regional lobby organizations play growing role in shaping EU treaties and policies • Example: key role of Assembly of European Regions (f. 1985) in shaping regional provisions of Maastricht Treaty

12. The Story of the Regions (cont’d-3) • Regional lobbies (permanent) in Brussels • Committee of the Regions (CoR), created by TEU Maastricht Treaty • 222 members elected by regional or municipal constituencies • Right to consultation on matters within competence • Issued 65 Opinions in first 2 years, half on own initiative • Linked with Economic and Social Committee

13. The Story of the Regions (cont’d-4) • Some interesting regional initiatives • “Four Motors of Europe” • Baden-Wuerttemberg (Ger), Catalonia (Sp), Rhone-Alpes (Fr), Lombardy (It) • Single Market inspired, at high industry-high tech level • Trans-European networks for research, innovation, and production, with emphasis on education, technology, and knowledge transfer

14. The Story of the Regions (cont’d-5) • Interesting regional initiatives (cont’d) • “Interregio” programs of the Commission • Euroregions • Origins in independent cross-border initiatives based on functional common interest • Example: Peripheral Maritime Regions-Atlantic Arc

15. Websites http://img.uoregon.edu/euro410/ Europa Commission DGs Curia Maps Regions