Globalization, Regionalism and Labour Markets: Should We Recast the Foundations of the EU Regime in Matters of Regional (Rural and Urban) Development?

Globalization has been accused of being the source of many problems. Some claim that this would justify a fundamental change of the EU regime that takes international competitiveness of the economy as its point of departure. This would have consequences for the present set-up of the EU cohesion regime and thus also for the policy toolkits of individual regions. The article analyses the effects of globalization and regionalism on labour markets. It does so on the basis of an extensive review of the theoretical and empirical literature, covering various strands of thought. The survey shows that fears about negative effects are not justified, provided a consistent set of policies is pursued. So the review does not support claims for a change of the EU regime, neither in matters of the macro aspects nor in matters of regional development and cohesion.