Contents: The background to and motivation for a regional economic policy at the national level; Regional disparities in the European Union; Region: a relative notion; Micro and macro-aspects of the location of firms; European urban developments and urban planning; The impact of integration on the regions; Objectives and strategies of regional economic policy; Instruments and evaluation of regional economic policy in EU countries; Regional economic policy at the European Union level; The structural funds 1989-99; 2000 and beyond; Bibliography; Index.