'Euroscepticism', political agendas and spatial planning: British nationaland regional planning policy in uncertain times

Over the last 10 years, European Union interest in planning has increased s ignificantly. Although land we planning remains a function of each member s tate, the legal obligations imposed by the EU in the fields of environmenta l later, structural finds, the Common Agricultural Policy, and trans-Europe an;transport Networks, have all impacted upon the context of the operation of the British planning process. Mag of the EU initiatives have had to be t ransposed into domestic legislation, while others form an important-if oft- times uncertain-framework for British policy-makers. This paper examines th e relationship between the European Union's policies and initiatives as the y have potentially impacted upon the British planning system and the conten ts of Britain's national and regional planning policy guidance to local pla nning authorities in the assessment period 1988-1997 But the Conservative g overnments adopted a 'Eurosceptic' approach to their relations with Europe and, as demonstrated within this paper, also towards spatial planning issue s that caused uncertainty in practice. The research indicates that although the EU has impacted upon British planning, particularly at the local level of government, this has not been reflected at the national and regional le vels in planning policy documentation, mainly because of the 'Eurosceptic' attitude of the government. Policy-makers at both the national and regional levels in England Scotland and Wales are now recognizing the need, however , to keep apace with changes occurring simultaneously with regard to enhanc ed European integration, and the approach of the Blair government since 199 7 has re-focused the relationship between the EU and UK over spatial planni ng.