ESPON 1.1.3: EU Enlargement (2003-2006)

The project ESPON 1.1.3 "Enlargement of the European Union and the Wider European Perspective as regards its Polycentric Spatial Structure" looked at the territory of the European Union with special attention to the discontinuities and potentials of the integration of the twelve new member states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 and the associated multiple goal conflicts between the goals of competitiveness and spatial cohesion. The project applied different methods to analyse the growing competitiveness of the new member states and the degree of cohesion and polycentricity within them. The project suggested a phase strategy of spatial development applying different spatial policies to the EU member states according to their phase of economic development. The Final Report of ESPON 1.1.3 can be downloaded from the ESPON website.