Discussion Papers 2001. 
Role of the Regions in the Enlarging European Union 5-6. p.
PREFACE 
The dominant process in the European continent entering the 21 st  century is 
integration. As we hope, at the very beginning of the new decade the European 
Union will enlarge. The new member- and associated states will bring both in 
terms of quality and quantity new challenges in the political and economic co-
operation. Similarly, a shift of priorities in the strategic goals of the Union is 
probable. The conditions of development will further differentiate the tradi-
tional tasks, and the requirements of the post-industrial society may force the 
decision-makers in the western and eastern parts of the integration to choose 
different development philosophies. Within the unified community policy the 
development strategies relying on the principles of solidarity, equity and just-
ness, strengthening territorial cohesion and decreasing regional inequalities 
must be harmonised with measures increasing competitiveness. The essential 
scene of the harmonisation of the two development paradigms will be the re-
gion, since this spatial frameworks seems to be the most optimal for adapting 
the "fine mechanisms" of the productive factors, human resources and natural 
environment, the democratic power practise and the programming of social 
development. The functions of national governmental tier have been reorgan-
ised and an increasing number of decision-making competencies are being de-
centralised. 
During the previous decade one of the characteristics of European develop-
ment was the consolidation of the regional power structure, the regionalism. 
Within the member states of the Union — enriched by significant differences 
and historical antecedents — the strengthening of the territorial decision-making 
tier below the national state progressed with undiminished intensity. The uni-
tarian countries are gradually transforming 
The new democracies and market economies in East-Central Europe cannot 
withdraw themselves from the above processes. In the case if they intend to 
unite the advantages of integration for their national rise, they must decentralise 
their traditionally centralised state political systems and the sectoral manage-
ment and administration established within the framework of planned economy 
must be complemented by regional autonomies. The decentralisation of the 
political system in the transition states — disregarding whether it is a strategic or 
an operative issue — the interpretation of regional autonomy show similar dif-
ferences, as the characteristic differences between the western democracies 

---

Horváth, Gyula : Preface 
In: Role of the Regions in the Enlarging European Union. Pécs, Centre for Regional Studies, 2001. 5-6. p. 
Discussion Papers, Role of the Regions in the E.
6 
some two to three decades ago. The space winning and institutionalisation of 
regionalism in East-Central Europe may become a new differentiating factor in 
the economic development ability and the decentralising countries may inte-
grate faster and the unitary countries slower and with more difficulties. 
The volume introduces the East-Central European achievements of regional 
development policy. Besides the analyses of the territorial transformation proc-
esses of the transformation period the studies draw a comprehensive picture of 
the economic and political factors influencing the organisation of the territorial 
medium tier — the region — as well as the characteristics of the objectives, 
means and institutional system of regional development introducing signifi-
cantly different approaches of certain countries on the regional policy tasks of 
the state, the future of the autonomous political action space of the regions. 
While in Eastern Europe even the application of the traditional state regional 
policy causes vital debates, in Western Europe and the United States already a 
different, post-modern type of regional political praxis is becoming generally 
applied. This new practice is introduced by the last two studies of the volume. 
This volume is the overture of the research programme, which was launched 
by the Centre for Regional Studies in order to investigate the East-Central 
European transformation. 
Pecs, June 2001 
Gyula Horvcith 

---