COHESION IN THE EUROPEAN-COMMUNITY - A KEY IMPERATIVE FOR THE 1990S

As the single market is completed and the European Community moves towards economic and monetary union, there has been increasing concern about the effect that an acceleration of economic integration will have on regional disparities. This paper considers how the benefits of integration are likely to be distributed between regions and what this will imply for policy. It is argued that to achieve social and economic cohesion, the Community will have to implement policies to ensure that the less competitive regions are afforded the opportunity to take advantage of integration. Such structural policies may not, however, be enough and may need to be complemented by income transfers between regions to mitigate the disparities that remain.