ABSTRACT. This paper aims to analyze and discuss the formula-driven mechanisms for allocating EU Cohesion Policy resources between Member States and regions, the EU’s management of migration, the international comparability of the regions in the individual Member States, and the rationality of administrative systems. My analysis complements the growing literature on processes of social and economic development in the context of the European Union, practices of spatial planning in Europe, the commitment to regions at the EU level, and the new paradigms of spatial policy. pp. 142–147

Keywords: regional development, spatial planning, the EU