“…On the other hand, if we account for the forces that affect regional inequality, regions within the EU can be seen to have been experiencing a period of unprecedented change and transformation as a result of the processes of globalization and economic integration, which has left several of the world's richest regions marginalized (Neumark, 2017); the economic crisis of 2008, which triggered rising inequality in several cases (Brakman, Garretsen, & van Marrewijk, 2015; Capello, Caragliu, & Fratesi, 2015; Mazzola & Pizzuto, 2020) along with political changes (e.g., the surge of populism and anti‐establishment extremism), which can also be linked with changes in regional inequality (Artelaris & Tsirbas, 2018; Dijkstra, Poelman, & Rodríguez‐Pose, 2019). Moreover, the current COVID‐19 crisis holds the potential to further increase regional inequality (Bailey et al, 2020).…”