ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses how planning has emerged as a pan-European activity, by considering the history of the European Union's approach or attitude to urban and regional planning. It discusses the development of particular European Commission initiatives that form a European spatial planning 'system' on the one hand and are impacting upon the planning systems of member states on the other. The chapter shows that European interest in planning issues has increased markedly over the last ten years, and this appears to be increasing at a frenetic pace since the emergence of the INTERREG initiative. A continuing role for spatial planning at the transnational, interregional and cross-border scales remains under discussion as proposals for INTERREG III are prepared. Spatial policy making for the decade 2001-10 will be highly influenced by the programme of EU enlargement. This was the central theme of the Agenda 2000 document. The basic pattern of Structural Funds which has been agreed broadly follows the Agenda 2000 proposals.
