Divergent trajectories in regional policy: EPRC hosts 32nd European regional policy conference

The diverging trajectories of regional policy in Europe was one of the main themes of the 32nd Conference of the European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA) http://www.eprc.strath.ac.uk/eorpa/default.cfm held at Ross Priory, Loch Lomondside, on 2-4 October 2011. The Conference, chaired by John Bachtler, brought together senior regional policymakers from across Europe to debate the current state of regional policy, EU Competition policy control of State aid, and the reform of EU Cohesion policy. Professor Danuta Hübner, Chair of the European Parliament's REGI Committee, was the Guest Speaker on the subject of the European Parliament's role in the reform of Cohesion policy. The Conference sessions were based on research reports and presentations prepared by EPRC, based on research conducted in 29 European countries during 2011. A strategic perspective on regional disparities, the territorial impact of the economic crisis and the main policy trends was presented by David Charles and Martin Ferry. This was followed by a more detailed assessment of how the management and implementation of policy is changing : conducted by Frederike Gross and Stefan Kah : and a detailed discussion of the importance of peripherality as a focus of regional policy intervention based on a paper by Sara Davies and Rona Michie. Shifting the focus of the debate, two papers were presented on policy reforms at EU level, first on the subject of prospective changes to the EU Regional Aid Guidelines by Fiona Wishlade, and then an assessment of reforms to EU Cohesion policy in the 2014-2020 period by Carlos Mendez, John Bachtler and Fiona Wishlade. Managed by EPRC, EoRPA is a research programme funded by government departments from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.