Open AccessTechnocratic Planning and Political Strategies: Territorial Policy in the EU
Author(s) -
William Outhwaite
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of contemporary european research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.299
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 1815-347X
DOI - 10.30950/jcer.v17i2.1183
Subject(s) - technocracy , politics , sovereignty , political science , political economy , member states , sovereign state , order (exchange) , public administration , european integration , european union , sociology , law , economics , international trade , finance
This commentary examines the EU’s halting development of territorial policy, most recently in macro-regional planning, and the responses of member states’ local and national governmental elites. Whether populist or not in their overall programmes, these elites have tended to resist EU initiatives in the name of a perceived national interest or to instrumentalise them in order to maximise their domestic political pay-off. These ‘sovereignty games’ (Adler-Nissen and Gammeltoft-Hansen 2008) have been a constant feature of the European integration process, but transnational territorial initiatives, involving a flexible mix of European and sub-regional bodies as well as national states (both members and non-members of the EU) tend to raise the stakes in these games.