Regional policy

Regional policy in the European Union

Although the European Union is one of the richest parts of the world, there are large internal disparities of income and opportunity between its regions. The May 2004 Enlargement, followed by accession of Bulgaria and Romania in January 2007 has widened these gaps. Regional policy transfers resources from richer to poorer regions.

The argument for regional policy is that it is both an instrument of financial solidarity and a powerful force for economic integration.

Regional policy in Italy

The major Italian experience of regional policy is the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, set up in the mid-1950s to foster economic development in southern Italy. Originally intended to last for six months, it survived well into the 1994.

New roads, irrigation projects and developments in infrastructure were built in an area where local communities who had suffered seriously from poverty, de-population and high levels of emigration. Tourism projects attempted to exploit Calabria’s beaches.