Robert Leonardi

Introduction: adaptational pressures and social learning in European regional policy – cohesion (Greece, Ireland and Portugal) vs. CEE (Hungary, Poland) countries

This introduction to the special issue concentrates on the theoretical, methodological and conceptual aspects of the research project, as well as on the synoptic presentation of the main research findings of the comparative study. The article draws on the theoretical debate on the impact of Europeanization of regional policy on the EU multi-level system of governance, and discusses the conceptual variation and underpinnings of the learning process, the crucial conceptual tool of institutional and policy adaptation at the domestic level of governance. It presents the methodology adopted for the comparative study, including the logic of the comparison, the choice of cases and ways the results are measured, and draws the main conclusion and lessons for both the Cohesion and CEE countries under investigation.

Cohesion in the European community: Illusion or reality?

The ECs regional policy is faced with the issue of the impact of market integration on the goals of economic and social cohesion in the Community. There are two major approaches in the literature in predicting the consequences of market integration on cohesion. The first approach stresses the divergence of levels of development while the second predicts that a gradual reduction of disparities will take place. To test these two hypotheses an analysis of regional and national level data covering the first nine member states of the Community over a 40‐year period is conducted. The results demonstrate that there has been a constant and significant convergence in levels of economic and social cohesion in the Community and within nation states during the last 40 years.

The Convergence Model of European Integration

To understand fully the consequences of the social and economic convergence analysed in the previous chapters, we need to reexamine the manner in which European integration is conceptualised and the way that nation-states have responded to the transfer of policy areas from the national to the European level. The convergence model of European integration proposed in this chapter posits the argument that integration can be seen as a multitier phenomenon affecting not only different levels of government (national, regional and local) but also various sectors of society, such as the economic, political and social systems. Integration, on the one hand, creates supranational institutions. On the other hand, when it is combined with convergence it has a profound effect on the structure, decision-making processes and implementation procedures adopted by national and subnational governments in regulating economic and social behaviour.

Regional Disparities and Centre—Periphery Relations in the European Union

The literature on economic convergence and divergence has grown over the years. There is a significant debate not only on the direction of change but also on what causes change and how that change can be measured. In the past, the main factors explaining convergence or divergence have concentrated on physical factors such as infrastructure, financial capital and access to natural resources. In more recent times attention has begun to focus on the role of human capital (skills and entrepreneurial predispositions), institutional/political resources (formal constitutional structures of government) and social/cultural factors (associations, policy networks and views on social cooperation).1 Theories concerning the institutionalisation of supranational decision making in Europe have also made explicit assumptions about the dynamic of economic growth and convergence and its link to the process of institution building in the EU.

Networks and Networking in the European Union

The impact of integration and convergence on the EU’s institutional architecture has been significant in the aftermath of the Single Market and the Maastricht Treaty. Starting in 1987 the EC needed to manage the new market within a greater European-wide rather than a national context. The implementation of the Single European Act witnessed a steady movement of decision making in crucial economic and social policy sectors to the European level in the search for rationalisation, scale and efficiency to compete on a world scale (Hufbauer, 1990). These changes in the structure of decision making and the new terms of reference for the economies of member states have stimulated the need to rethink the structure and nature of European policy-making institutions so that the pursuit of economic and social objectives can remain grounded on the foundations of representative government (that is, policymaking organs are subject to scrutiny by representatives directly elected by the people) and law (the legal foundations for the organs making decisions must be grounded in Treaty provisions or regulations passed by the Council).

The Findings: Dependent Variables

The aim of the this chapter is to undertake a systematic analysis of the dynamic of convergence at the regional level by looking in greater detail at the actual empirical changes that have taken place over time. Defining the dependent variables was handicapped by a lack of adequate data over an extended period of time. As a consequence only two indicators could be used: per capita GDP at market prices and exchange rates was tracked from 1970 to 1991; and data on per capita purchasing-power standards (PPS) was analysed over an equivalent twenty-one year period. Most of the longitudinal empirical studies conducted on core—periphery relations in Europe have used the same dependent variables, while Molle, van Holst and Smit (1980), Biehl, Hussmann and Schnyder (1971) and Bairoch (1976) built their dependant variable on per capita GDP expressed in US dollars.1

The Italian Mezzogiorno: Does it Fit the Convergence Model?

The Italian Mezzogiorno has a number of characteristics similar to those manifested by the other regions located in Objective 1 areas along the southern periphery of the EU. Until the accession of Greece, Portugal and Spain, Italy’s southern regions had the lowest levels of development, the highest levels of unemployment and among the lowest supply of economic and social infrastructure in all of the EC. In 1950 the level of development of southern Italy was approximately one third of the average for the first nine member states. Its main resource, labour, was freely exported to the northern regions of Italy (especially the industrial triangle formed by the regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria) and industrialised EC countries (Romero, 1993). In other European countries Italians flocked to fill jobs in coalmining (Belgium and France), manufacturing (Germany), construction (Switzerland) and services (UK).

Methodology for the Study of Economic and Social Convergence

In making the transition between the predictions of economic and political theories and analysing what has been happening in regional economies in Europe, past research has not been sensitive to the need to test hypotheses in an empirical and dispassionate manner. In order to rectify this situation, the evaluation of convergence conducted in the next three chapters will be carried out by making a two-fold distinction. Chapters 3 and 4 will concentrate on defining and evaluating the dependent variable — that is, the variable or variables that provide evidence of a change (or no change) in the cohesion gap and the level of convergence — while in Chapter 5 attention will be paid to independent variables — that is, those variables that can explain or account for, on a statistical basis, the changes observed in the dependent variable.

The Findings: Independent Variables

Having traced the change in levels of productivity and social well-being over time, it is now necessary to turn to the search for variables that will explain the changes in regional development measured by the dependent variables in the regions covered by the nine member states of the EU. Of necessity, reference will also be made to the results of the independent-variable analysis concerning the three newer member states.

Network Engineering in the European Union

As defined in the previous chapter, networks are interactive systems that create relationships and constitute the basis for collective action across a variety of institutional levels and economic sectors. One of the fundamental aspects of our discussion of the change in the post-1992 institutional structure is the role played by networks in bringing together network actors (individuals, institutions, associations and so on) who find themselves in different geographic, sectoral and institutional settings. The territorial scope of the network is of fundamental importance because the potential for networking on an EU-wide basis is considerably enhanced by the creation of the Single Market. In this chapter we will discuss the outlines of the models that can be used to analyse the scope and content of European networks, and the chapter will conclude with a classification of existing network systems and the role that they can assume in the Maastricht phase of European development.