Unfinished business: European spatial planning in the 2000s

The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) adopted in 1999 is widely applied. INTERREG brings new actors into its orbit. The European Commission refers to it more frequently than could have been expected. However, the process relied on informal meetings of ministers and an equally informal Committee on Spatial Development doing the work. Having been kept at arm's length by member states, the Commission has written this process off Intergovernmental cooperation is indispensable, nevertheless. What is needed to advance European spatial planning in the 2000s is a package deal, attractive to the member states that have worked so enthusiastically on the ESDP. The deal must build on INTERREG, in particular the various spatial visions, and envelop the institutional infrastructure emerging in this context. Last but not least, the Community role needs to be legitimised. Otherwise, spatial planning will not flourish in the European multi-level system of governance.