Incluye bibliografía.

Part 1 Introduction: performance of the community's regions in the 1980s - the main challenges for the 1990s, Van de Wee and Hall (DGXVI); shifts in Europe and their impact on the European spatial structure, Albrechts; economic reforms in Central and Eastern Europe - implications for the EC. Part 2 EC issues: regional impact of the achievement of the European Internal Market, Quevit; European integration and public finance - the political economy of regional support, MacKay; economics of regional government in the EC, Newlands; regulating European financial capital 1 - the global context, Leyshon and Thrift; regulating European financial capital 2 - financial regulation and the Single European Market, Leyshon and Thrift; spatial impact of completion of the EC internal market for financial services, Begg; assessing the additionality or otherwise of EC structural finds, Barnett and Borooah; the impact of 1992 on local and regional development, Hart and Roberts; regional dimensions of the social contract - towards social cohesion, Danson; EC's RECHAR programme - an adequate response to the problems of coal areas?, Fothergill. Part 3 Eastern European issues: regional policy and regional structure in the Soviet Union, Dmitrieva; spatial inequality in the Gorbachev era, Ozornoy; the regional dimension in Hungary - aspects of transformation in 1991, De Souza and Korompai; labour mobility between Eastern and Western Europe, Nikas. Part 4 Peripheral regions: urban and regional restructuring in Northern Greece and the SEM, Tsoulouvis; local economic development in peripheral areas - the case of Portugal, Syrett; regional and local implications of European integration for the Republic of Ireland rural development in a peripheral region of the European community - the Northern Ireland experience, Walsh, Murray and Greer. Part 5 Conclusion: policy agenda for the decade.

The political and economic geography of Europe is changing - the European Community is expanding its boundaries towards EFTA and is resuming a closer association with Central and Eastern European regions engaged in radical restructuring. As EC integration accelerates there is the prospect of intensified inter-regional competition. This book, divided into five parts, examines in detail the changes and the challenge for policy makers. The introduction draws out the central themes of the book, addressing EC regional performance and future indicators, the enlargement and changing map of Europe and the implications for the EC of Eastern European changes.
The second part deals with EC issues, particularly focusing on the economic and spatial impact of European integration. Part 3 addresses Eastern European issues, and Part 4 covers the Peripheral Regions. The final part is devoted to a policy debate, concluding with a policy agenda for the forthcoming decade.