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Lost in Translation? Regional Policy from National Strategy to EU Competitive Framework

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  • Flavia Martinelli

Abstract

This article is about regional disparities and regional policy in Europe,with a focus on Italy. The point of departure is the persistence of regional inequalitiesin many European countries, after some fifty years of public policies.In many cases, intra-national regional divergence has actually resumedafter the convergence observed in the third quarter of the twentieth century.Why is that? What went wrong? To answer these questions, first the evolutionof regional policy in Europe is reviewed, challenging three pillars of the currentEU Cohesion policy: the faith in government decentralisation, the «localdevelopment governance» paradigm, and the competitive approach. The caseof Southern Italy is then presented, as an illustration of both the evolution ofregional policy and some failures of Cohesion policy. Subsequently, what was«lost in translation», in the shift from the «national» regional policies of the1960s and 1970s to the multi-level EU Cohesion policy framework establishedin the 1990s, is highlighted. It is argued that much has been given up in termsof unitary strategic perspective, financial commitment, and leverage, whereasthe «local development policy governance» approach tends to reproduce andenhance regional disparities. Finally, pointers for a renewed policy commitmentare proposed.

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  • Flavia Martinelli, 2020. "Lost in Translation? Regional Policy from National Strategy to EU Competitive Framework," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1-2, pages 85-123.
    • Handle: RePEc:mul:jqyfkm:doi:10.1432/97627:y:2020:i:1-2:p:85-123
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    1. A. Giannola & C. Petraglia & G.L.C. Provenzano, 2016. "Regional Convergence and the Future of Cohesion Policies in the Eu," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 4, pages 923-950.
    2. C. Petraglia & D. Scalera, 2012. "Le politiche per il Mezzogiorno negli anni della crisi (2007-2012)," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 4, pages 1023-1048.
    3. Adriano Giannola & Riccardo Padovani & Carmelo Petraglia, 2015. "Spending Review e divari regionali in Italia," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(1), pages 129-155.
    4. Francesca Governa & Carlo Salone, 2004. "Territories in action, territories for action: the territorial dimension of Italian local development policies," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 796-818, December.
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    1. Ron Martin & Flavia Martinelli & Judith Clifton, 2022. "Rethinking spatial policy in an era of multiple crises [An institutional perspective on regional economic development]," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 15(1), pages 3-21.

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