ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a presentation of a number of European and regional documents, schemes and initiatives of sustainable development. The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) was adopted in 1999, after a very complex professional and political process that lasted more than 20 years. The ESDP was developed against a backdrop of a new European development philosophy and thinking. It is a strategic spatial framework for the spatial coordination of the on-going and future European Union (EU) policies. The basic aim of cooperation is a common contribution towards ensuring the sustainable spatial development of the European continent, at pan-European level and within the member states. The ESDP represents an 'agreement' with some principles, whereby EC policies and measures must be spatially differentiated, and it sets out the necessary guidelines for this, thereby growing into a framework for determining policies and their fulfillment. The chapter concludes with some suggestions regarding how to proceed towards more pro-European approaches and practices.
