Festina lente: the first steps towards regional policy and the origins of a European model of territorial cohesion

Abstract

This paper focuses on how the slow but steady development of the EU regional policy was shaped by the gradual emergence of a territorial perspective in its strategic design. In particular, it examines the origins of regional policy, shedding light on its first stage of formulation, from the Treaty of Paris to the adoption of the European Regional Development Fund (1951-1975). Notably it analyses some underlying factors influencing its elaboration: the idea and vision of transnational spatial planning promoted by the Council of Europe, the exchange of ideas within the European Commission expert groups on town and country planning and the territorial studies relating to the first EEC enlargement. This cultural milieu contributed to a common outlook on the equilibrium of the European regions, thus planting a seed that would ripen into the “territorial cohesion” model recently included in the Lisbon Treaty.