Constructing the European Spatial Development Perspective - For whom?

This article discusses the provenance and potential significance of the Eur opean Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), considering questions of whos e policy is it, who had an input into its preparation, who ir the client an d/or audience, and the significance of its preparation by the Committee an Spatial Development (CSD). The preparation phase from 1993, and the more pu blic phase from the Noordwijk draft of 1997 to completion of the Potsdam te xt in 1999 are reviewed in order to consider whether the overall time-scale is reasonable and whether the transnational seminars can be regarded as a form of public participation. The paper goes on to discuss what follows aft er adoption, threats to its role in EU policy-making, and concludes that th ere are some benefits from the process of preparation bg the CSD, and from the form of elite participation that took place, but that the ESDP must bec ome a Commission policy of it is to play a significance role in achieving t erritorial and social cohesion at the EU level.