EPRC has published two new research papers examining the interrelationships between national regional policies and EU regional policy and EU competition policy.
Regional Policy in the EU: A Passing Phase of Europeanisation or a Complex Case of Policy Transfer? (by Fiona Wishlade, Douglas Yuill and Carlos Mendez) has been produced as part of an ESRC-funded research project and involves an historical and cross-national analysis of how the evolution of national regional policies in EU Member States has influenced, and been influenced by, EU regional policy (through the Structural Funds) and EU competition policy (through the control of State aids), focusing on the process of area designation.The paper examines how and why Europeanisation varies across Member States and the implications for policy substance and policy theory.
Regional Policies after 2006: Complementarity or Conflict? (by John Bachtler, Fiona Wishlade and Douglas Yuill) considers how enlargement of the EU will affect regional policy. Initially prepared as the keynote paper for a 'Sub Rosa Strategic Discussion Seminar' of national and regional authorities and European institutions in Brussels, the paper examines the trajectories of national regional policies, EU regional policy and EU competition policy in recent years and the critical issues that need to be addressed as part of the current debate on the reform of EU policies. The paper argues that the interactions between these policy areas have been insufficiently considered hitherto, and need to be better understood if future policy relationships are to be characterised by coherence rather than friction after 2006. The papers are published in the EPRC Series of European Regional Policy Research Papers.