ABSTRACT
The macro-regional perspective arose, informally at first, as a new, although de facto, instrument of European Union (EU) policy during the process of rectifying disparities among regions. Spatial changes that impacted the instruments of state governance occurred simultaneously in the 1990s in European and Asian sea rim areas. The Council developed a coordination strategy with the North East Scotland Fisheries Development Partnership, thereby forming the North Sea Regional Advisory Council. The political resolutions that have emerged from within the cross-scale arena help explain the new forms by which political resources are being allocated among scales. The concept of region has been remarkably successful in advancing our understanding of the social, economic, and political aspects of geographical units, with the EU emerging as the paradigm. The development of a macro-regional approach within the EU policy arena has stimulated political activity between scales and has changed the nature of governance through the introduction of cross-scale processes.
