ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the policies developed at the level of the European Community that have an impact on patterns of regional change. The European Community is a long way from the gross domestic product (GDP) budget ratio observed in sovereign states, even when they have a federal structure. Over time the European Community has developed a set of what have come to be known as 'structural' policies. The policy 'tools' of the Community are essentially a combination of competition regulations, co-ordination and aid programmes. Transport and communications policy is another good example of Community policies pursued for other objectives that have had important regional impacts, and promise in the future to have even more profound ones. The main regional effects of 1992 will be in the service sectors, in hitherto protected sectors such as public procurement and in the movement of capital and people.
