At the beginning of the 21st century the European Union faces twin challenges: the institutional challenge, linked to the processes of greater integration and expansion, and the structural challenge, which will in the medium-run determine the place of the EU in the world. This book deals with this latter set of challenges, focusing on economic aspects, such as competitiveness and cohesion, as well as on other important issues such as ageing, migration, social polarization, and the emergence of regionalism and nationalism.

• Part I: ECONOMY


• 1: Competitiveness


• Introduction


• The stages of economic integration


• Economic integration as a means to achieve competitiveness


• The impact of economic integration


• Conclusion


• 2: Cohesion


• Introduction


• National and regional disparitites in the EU


• European development policies


• The efficiency of European development policies after the reform of the Structural Funds


• Conclusion


• Part II: SOCIETY


• 3: Ageing


• Introduction


• Demographic change in the EU


• The factors behind ageing


• Policies aimed at tackling demographic change


• Conclusion


• 4: Migration and xenophobia


• Introduction


• Migration and its forms


• Mass migration in post-war Europe


• The renewal of migration in the 1990s


• The European response to migration


• Conclusion


• 5: Unemployment and social polarization


• Introduction


• Employment change in the post-industrial age


• The roots of persistently high unemployment


• The impact of labour market flexibility on unemployment


• Conclusion


• Part III: POLITY


• 6: Enlargement


• Introduction


• Change in central and eastern Europe


• The different transitions in central and eastern Europe


• Enlargement and European integration


• Conclusion


• 7: Regionalism and regionalization


• Introduction


• Regional devolution in Europe


• The transfer of power from the nation state to the regions


• The roots of the regionalization process


• Towards a 'Europe of the Regions'?


• Conclusion

Andrés Rodríguez-Pose is Senior Lecturer in Economic Geography and Royal
Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder at the London School of
Economics and Political Science