ESPON Territorial Observations aim at providing policy makers and practitioners short and concise information on territorial dynamics. The third volume put focus on territorial aspects of the Lisbon and the Europe 2020 strategies by comparing the position and trends of regions around Europe on related indicators.

The information within the Territorial Observation can support policy makers engaged with competitiveness and territorial cohesion at regional/local, national and/or European level in considerations related to further policy processes.

ESPON results reveal the diversity of regions from a European perspective, benchmarking the individual regions on a number of issues relevant for their development, such as unemployment rate, R&D expenditure, share of highly educated citizens in the labour force and a composite index including the economic indicators used for measuring performance in relation to the Lisbon Strategy. Also a few indicators related to sustainable development have been added as appetizers in understanding potentials for a greener regional economy.

The ESPON Territorial Observation releases 10 key points for policy consideration, among them are:

• Within EU Member States, territorial dynamics 2000-2006 have increased the regional disparities within many countries. Capital city regions have in general gained a more favourable position compared to other regions within the same country.
• In realising the Lisbon/Europe 2020 Strategy, all regions have their part to play, especially those where the potential for higher productivity and employment is greatest.
• Overall, European trends of regional economic performance have strengthened the position of the Western, Central and Northern parts of Europe, and enforced the role of the Capital City regions and more urbanized regions.
• As contrast, Eastern and Southern parts of Europe have in the same period been losing ground, in particular regions placed in the periphery of the individual countries.

ESPON Territorial Observation No. 3 on Trends in Economic Performance of European Regions 2000-2006, including maps and datasets, is available below.

Printed copies of “Territorial Observations” series are available. Should you have questions please do not hesitate to contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at info@espon.eu