Regional Problems and Policy in the EEC

Abstract

There has been a phenomenal increase of interest in regional problems, science, measurement and policy in Western Europe over the past forty years. The shaded areas showing problem regions have spread from small beginnings until they threaten to cover the whole map; regional organisations have made more than their fair contribution to initialitis; swarms of regional geographers and economists have been bred; regional policies have proliferated, and expenditure on programmes of regional aid has soared. What is the definition of a ‘region’? What is the origin of regional problems? Are regional problems and policies really permanent, or are they merely temporary phenomena related to a particular phase of social and economic life in European countries? What are the objectives of regional policy? What are its true costs? How does one measure its success? What is the correct balance between subsidising regions to solve their problems, and controlling such subsidies in order to preserve free and fair competition?