ABSTRACT
The vision of the original architects of the European Union was to create and guide the development of Europe in such a way that economic prosperity and social harmony could be assured simultaneously for the majority of Europe’s citizens. Today we have come closer to achieving economic integration, but not sustained growth, nor a reduction in social disparities. Indeed, the contemporary cocktail of economic stagnation, problems of industrial adaptation, mass unemployment, social exclusion and political polarization within the European Union threatens to widen divisions between member states, regions and social groups. More acutely than ever, Europe faces the dual problem of how to ensure sustained growth and how to combine it with social equity. An important manifestation of this problem, recognized by politicians and policy-makers, is the growing gap in social and economic prosperity between the EU’s advanced and less favoured regions. It is significant that regional differentials in productivity, unemployment and employment appear to have increased during the last decade, the period in which efforts to integrate the European economy have been most intense.
