research and technology, environmental protection and economic development were
significantly enhanced.
This development was continued by the signing of the Treaty of the European Union in
Maastricht 1992 and the ensuing treaties of Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2001). This treaties
and the related negotiations were milestones on the way towards an increasingly integrated
European Union. The length to which European integration has gone is aptly illustrated by the
recent enlargement of the Union with ten central and eastern European nations on 1 May
2004. The European Union has evolved from a partnership of states, solely active in the field
of economic policy, into a union of nations with diverse policies.
It is obvious that the transfer of political responsibility from the national to the supranational,
respectively EU level calls also for a responsibility to co-ordinate the impacts of exactly
theses policies. It is not understandable why decisions in sector policies with particular spatial
relevance such as transport, environment or agriculture policy can be made on European level
whereas nobody takes care of an appropriate co-ordination of both the policies and their
impacts on spatial development in EU member states and the EU as a whole.
Spatially relevant European sector policies continued to operate independently from each
other. The sector orientation of the Commission and of the political processes at Brussels
continue to be strong. European policy is to a considerable extent formulated by experts in the
various sectors. Territorial know-how is not, at least not in a structural manner, incorporated
into the political process. Territorial aspects are, by their nature, strongly interwoven with
each other and these interrelations are constantly on the increase. Examples are demographic
changes, water management, conservation and the management of natural resources and
cultural heritage, and also transport and infrastructure.
Because of this facts a co-ordination of Community policies is essential. Integrating the new
objective of territorial cohesion beside economic and social cohesion in the Treaty
establishing a Constitution for Europe might be a first step in the right direction. Although the
term of territorial cohesion is not at all clearly defined and a mutual understanding of what is
exactly meant by this term is hardly existing. But one seems to be clear: territorial cohesion
calls for a serious consideration of territorial aspects in sectoral policies on European level.
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