Fake or real EU Territorialicy? Debating the territorial universe of EU policies

Abstract

This paper provides new insights into the main pillars of the territorial universe of EU policies, by undertaking a systematic overview of European Union (EU) key territorial development reports, agendas and programmes. These include the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the three Territorial Agendas, and the European Territorial Observatory Network (ESPON) reports. The evidence shows widespread territorialicy, understood as a process of incorporating a territorial driven policy design, implementation and evaluation paradigm, still largely dominated by territorial development and territorial cohesion policy rationales. However, the socioeconomic policy prism continues to dominate the design and analysis of EU policies by EU entities.

Editorial : EU post-2020 territorial policies?

“…In the first contribution, the Editor of this Issue (Medeiros, 2020) puts forward a novel scientific concept (of territorialicy), which is understood as a process by which policies have a territorially-driven policy-design, implementation and evaluation paradigm incorporated into them. By doing this, the author seeks to highlight the advantages accruing from this territorially-driven design when it comes to mainstream econometric perspectives, as supported by 'growth' policy rationales, rather than those centring around 'development' or 'cohesion'.…”