Perspectives on the EUropeanisation and EUropeanisation of Planning

Abstract

The exemplary case study by Evers and Tennekes documents the impact of European spatial or territorial policies in the Netherlands. The authors show that there is practically not an inch of Dutch soil unaffected. This type of Europeanisation, also called the ‘downloading’ of European policies, they distinguish from two other meanings of the term: the ‘uploading’ of policies from the national to the European level and what one might call ‘horizontal’ Europeanisation – my words. This refers to mutual learning taking place thanks to increasingly frequent contacts between experts and policy makersleading to the «shared understanding between planners and like-minded professionals in Europe »(Evers, Tennekes, 2016, p. 2). The latter two meanings I discuss as the EUropeanisation, respectively the Europeanisation of planning (Faludi, 2014). In so doing, I take a leaf out of the book of Clark and Jones (2008) distinguishing between ‘EUrope’ – the European Union construct – and ‘Europe,’ being alongstanding, historical and cultural process and its outcome. EUropeanisation of planning stands for its becoming part of the EU ‘policy-making state’ (Richardson, 2012) and its Europeanisation for mutual learning about ideas and practices.
In these terms, much of my past work has been on the EUropeanisation of planning. Saying that this has not been particularly successful is an understatement. But the Lisbon Treaty would at least allow the EU to pursue a territorial cohesion policy, in practice strategic spatial planning. Nonetheless, the Commission takes no relevant initiatives. My 2014 paper expressed at least modest faith,though, in the Europeanisation of planning. In the fullness of time, this might prepare the ground for its EUropeanisation, was my hope. Unfortunately, present prospects are poor. European integrationas such is under threat, making the EUropeanisation of planning seem less urgent. Securing the Uniontakes centre stage.
The paper starts with Evers and Tennekes on Europeanisation. Then it explains the distinction between the EUropeanisation and Europeanisation of planning, followed by a discussion of the persistent failure of the former. The root cause is the insistence of EU member states on their sovereign control over their territories. The conclusions point out the dark sides of this, what I call territorialism.