consequence highly specialised functions are concentrated in a few regions while private
investments are dispersed over the whole European territory. The increasing flexibility of
people, goods and particularly money calls for an integrated European network of transport
and communication infrastructure.
Especially larger city regions are facing growing pressure for land use in their whole
agglomeration. They have to secure the availability of space for specialised activities whilst
securing a high standard of live quality for their inhabitants. For those regions it seems
essential to implement a sustainable development strategy in order to being prepared for the
Europe-wide competition.
“Finally, regions that profited from the protective effects of national boundaries have lost in
the competition among regions in Europe.” (Benz 2002, 141)
These changes relating to the economic dynamics of the European Single Market show that
market forces alone are not able to steer economic development in a socially acceptable way.
European regional policy is aiming at avoiding the decline of economically weaker regions
and achieving a well balanced territorial structure for supporting the future cohesion of the
Single Market.
Such a balancing regional policy seems only reachable by the consideration of spatial aspects
and patterns within the specific policy targets. A harmonised strategy for the allocation of
economic activities and financial aids for economic development will be needed for the whole
European territory in order to fulfil the competitiveness goals laid down in the Lisbon and
Gothenburg agendas. Through a fine-tuning between regional policy and other policies related
to spatial development it will be possible to create a long term strategy aiming at exactly these
goals.
3. Co-ordination of Community Sectoral Policies and the Competency Issue
“The competency issue and practical reasons both prevent the EU from resorting to
unilateral control, or from setting binding goals for public or private actors. At the same time,
member states and regions cannot be expected to act on their own to voluntarily adjust their
spatial policies. Therefore, coordination in European spatial policy has to be accomplished
through the process of negotiations and cooperation.” (Benz 2002, 143)
As BENZ mentioned the competency issue is one of the main questions that remains
unsolved. Currently the responsibility for spatial planning lies on member states level.
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