290169 VU European Spatial Planning - Background and Prospects (2007W)

Starting with Dutch planning, various European planning systems are being compared, including the French, German and Austrian. The French system in in particular has influenced cohesion thinking of the European Union comprising of highly developed and economically more backward Member States, with great disparities between regions. Many EU policies concern such disparities, e.g. regional policy and the Trans-European Networks. Should, there be co-ordination in the EU of such policies with a view to their impact on spatial or territorial development? Or is such co-ordination a matter for the Member States and/or sub-national governments? So far, the EU has no spatial planning mandate. Spatial planning in the EU has taken the form of voluntary co-operation between Member States to formulate a joint frame of reference. The climax so far has been the adoption of the 'European Spatial Development Perspective' in 1999. Since then, there has been talk of the EU pursuing, if not spatial planning, then at least a form of territorial cohesion policy. The Treaty on establishing a Constitution for Europe would have formalised the Union's role in this, but is now unlikely to be ratified any time soon. Meanwhile, there is a new Member State initiative, pursued by successive current Presidencies to pursue the territorial cohesion agenda from the bottom up, as it were. This will be put against the backdrop of the European model of society and how it translates into cohesion policy.