Spaces and projects of European importance

Europe is facing numerous challenges nowadays. Hence, forces are needed to counteract these challenges and strengthen cohesion in Europe. An easy, but not simple, way to experience the value and meaning of cooperation is through visible, international projects of common European interest in spaces or areas of European importance. Determining such projects and areas is considered a core of the spatial planning approach that sets the priority for taking action in an area according to its specific location or its specific problem. What happens around or alongside such areas is not only important for the respective spatial areas; it is also in the interests of the nation states involved and of the whole of Europe, as well. These spaces and projects can have far-reaching consequences and opportunities that may be exploited or, otherwise, will be lost. To describe the 'areas and places of European importance', we can start from the following: the compilation of regions and projects of national importance creates a sustainable base for a supranational spatial perspective on various nationally significant areas and projects. Moreover, spaces and projects of European importance are major components of large-scale spatial planning. However, European spatial planning does not exist; in addition, there is no European transport strategy either. And, as there is no European transport strategy, there cannot be an integrated European spatial and transport strategy. Such a strategy would have to set reliable spatial, scheduling and financial priorities. Thus, Europe is left with the task of developing an integrated strategy, which is more than grouping together mutually diversified national visions and plans. This paper explains the concept of spaces and projects of European importance by using experiences from the INTERREG project entitled CODE 24 (COrridor DEvelopment 24) on the corridor from Rotterdam to Genoa, now known as the Rhine-Alpine Core Network Corridor. Based on the scientific findings from this project, the areas and projects of European importance are identified for the Orient/East-Med Core Network Corridor along with various aspects (such as organizational plans and financial resources) required for integrated spatial and transport development. Finally, this contribution demonstrates that an action-oriented spatial planning approach is needed in order to achieve territorial cohesion in Europe.