The Europeanization of National Planning: Explaining the Causes and the Potentials of Change

Abstract

This article proposes a methodological framework for analyzing the Europeanization of national planning, that is, EU influence on domestic planning systems and policies. It seeks in particular to examine whether, where, and how Europeanization of national planning occurs and under which analytic frameworks it may be explained. To this end, the article proposes a three-step research approach. First, it highlights the main patterns of Europeanization in the area of national planning in relation to different modes of EU governance and ideal types of Europeanization. Second, it suggests a typology for the examination of the potential effects of the Europeanization of planning at the domestic level. Finally, it develops some hypotheses on how different institutional, socio-economic and cultural contexts may accommodate or restrain the Europeanization of national planning.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the two anonymous referees for their constructive criticism and helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

Notes

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1. Conseil de la Concurrence (2007), Avis n° 07-A-12 du 11 octobre 2007 relatif à la législation relative à l'équipement commercial, available at http://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/pdf/avis/07a12.pdf (accessed December 2010).