ABSTRACT
In the latter years of the twentieth century, regional policy and planning played a significant part in creating economic cohesion in the EU, but convergence on a Continental scale was, to an extent, offset by greater inequalities in prosperity between the rich and poorer areas of individual Member States. The EU manifestly exercised little influence over the effectiveness of the many planning systems employed at national, regional and local levels. Although most Member States were devolving planning responsibilities from the centre to the regions, devolution was a slow and long-term process and its attributes varied considerably from one country to another. However, at a European level, a representative Committee of Regions was formed in an attempt to voice matters of regional concern and influence decision-making in the European Parliament at Strasbourg, while, within a framework of super regions, Member States gradually embarked on strategic planning across national boundaries. It should not be forgotten, however, that 80 per cent of the population of the EU live in a polarised hierarchy of towns and cities, and that urban areas often need to be the focus of regional planning and (within the context of regional plans) the principal recipients of aid.
