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

As the single market is completed and the European Community moves tow ards economic and monetary union, there has been increasing concern ab out the effect that an acceleration of economic integration will have on regional disparities. This paper considers how the benefits of inte gration are likely to be distributed between regions and what this wil l imply for policy. It is argued that to achieve social and economic c ohesion, the Community will have to implement policies to ensure that the less competitive regions are afforded the opportunity to take adva ntage of integration. Such structural policies may not, however, be en ough and may need to be complemented by income transfers between regio ns to mitigate the disparities that remain.