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Spatial planning in Europe

The European Ministers responsible for spatial planning and regional policies held an informal meeting in Strasbourg on 30-31 March 1955. During their two-day meeting, the Ministers discussed the following topics: - Spatial planning and further policy steps; - Regional policy...

The European Ministers responsible for spatial planning and regional policies held an informal meeting in Strasbourg on 30-31 March 1955. During their two-day meeting, the Ministers discussed the following topics: - Spatial planning and further policy steps; - Regional policy and programming efforts within Objective 1 and 2 regions and implementation procedures; - Euro-Mediterranean partnership and strengthened cooperation. The Council agreed that a European vision of spatial planning should be established on the basis of national reflections. This should be incorporated into a development scheme to be discussed initially during the Italian presidency, starting in January 1996. To achieve this, the Ministers asked the Commission to: - Establish a study on the impact of the Community policies on spatial planning; - Initiate experiments for a transnational approach of spatial planning; - Present a proposition regarding the financing of these experimental operations within pilot actions and the extension of the INTERREG initiative. It was further decided that a network of spatial planning institutes (observatories) should become operational during the Spanish presidency, starting in July 1995. Taking into consideration the persistent economic disparities between Member States as well as the high unemployment levels, the Structural Funds must be implemented to create employment and to support the regions most in need. On the question of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, the Ministers agreed to give a new impetus to the relationship between the EU and the Mediterranean area and to examine concrete proposals on spatial planning during the Euro-Mediterranean conference in Barcelona at the end of 1995.

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