The Dynamics of European Periphery

The paper investigates the economic dynamics of peripheral regions in Europe. There are no consensus among researchers and practitioners concerning the long-term trends of spatial disproportions among European regions. Though there are obvious evidences of inter-national convergence in the EU, the inter-regional convergence is still a challenge. Thus, territorial cohesion and balanced regional development becomes the main tasks of the EU Territorial Agenda. The main purpose of the paper is to inspect the ability of peripheral regions to demonstrate the tendency for anticipatory growth. The authors investigate the theoretical backgrounds of peripheral emergence, make a review of the empirical researches on regional peripheralization in Europe and analyze the quantitative indicators of European periphery’s dynamics. The conclusion is made that there is a strong tendency toward the emergence of new growth poles to the east of "Blue Banana", the traditional European economic spine.