EU territorial governance: learning from institutional progress

Abstract

EU territorial governance is a concept now familiar to European planners and decision makers. However, the lack of an official definition makes its relationship with planning activities and processes in the EU member countries unclear. Looking back at the recent history of various attempts to factor territory into the EU policy agenda, this article proposes a systematic review of institutional documents regarding, in a direct or indirect manner, EU territorial governance. The aim of the article is to assess the positioning of this concept in an institutional perspective from direct sources, in order to discuss possible implications for planning in the context of European integration.