The four waves of regional policy: towards an era of trade-offs?

This paper addresses the main challenges for regional policy in the upcoming years. It starts by identifying three historical phases of regional policy in Europe, from the Second World War to the present–namely, disparities, competitiveness and potentials–each with different conceptual underpinnings. But now a distinct fourth wave, characterised by extended trade-offs, seems to be starting. This incoming wave stems from the need to explicitly acknowledge the difficulties in reconciling several new and old conflicting objectives, particularly with the convergence of lagging regions. The incoming trade-offs phase will require transparent political choices between objectives.