Regional development is one of the main EU spending priorities through its Cohesion Policy. Brexit is among several influences on the future of the policy, whose evolution is part of a wider reshaping of the principles and practice of regional policy in Europe. A new paper by John Bachtler of EPRC and Iain Begg of LSE in Papers in Regional Science examines the emerging policy challenges for regional development and recent contributions to the regional literature policy. Drawing partly on EPRC research conducted under the EoRPA programme, it highlights innovation, human capital and effective institutions as three crucial dimensions of future policy. The paper argues that a shift in regional policy priorities, governance and territorial focus is underway – partly influenced by place‐based policy thinking ‐ at EU level under Cohesion Policy as well as under national regional policies in the EU27 and the UK.
