ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the European integration issues. It investigates some main integration forces and their spatial patterns, and looks the signs of weakness and potentials in view of further integration. The chapter lies on the origin of a trans-national Interreg III ? project European Space Territorial Indicators and Actions for a Spatial Observatory in Southeast Europe (ESTIA-SPOSE). It utilizes some evidence based on research on investment flows, trade exchange patterns and trans-national cooperation structures and refers to three different levels: a European level (exploring West-East relations), a Southeast European level (exploring transnational patterns), and a national level for the Southeast European countries (exploring internal regional patterns). The chapter examines the European countries - world-wide aspects of an increasingly global economy. European Spatial Development policy is trying to investigate the regional development potentials that could be activated by more integration, cooperation and coordination.
