Skip to main content

Transnational Neoliberalisation and the Role of Supranational Trade Agreements in Local Urban Policy Implementation: The Case of the European Union

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 102))

Abstract

This chapter aims to display dysfunctional consequences of transnational neoliberalisation in cities where supranational organisations that aim to control and regulate the global trade create interventions in the local policy making. While urban development projects have been widespread throughout Europe since the 1990s, the local governments are confronted with the Single European Market regulations, which are aiming primarily at fair and transparent competition between the member states. These EU regulations create impediments for various forms of cooperation between the public and private stakeholders as they tend to be restrictive and inflexible. Within this general framework, this paper has a particular interest in the local land development dynamics of these projects. Claiming that the nature of the partnerships between public and private parties are strongly affected by the individual land and property market dynamics, which are not taken into consideration by the supranational regulations and agreements, the aim of this paper is to highlight these individual practices and to display the reflections from various urban development experiences in the form of public/private relations to the common European market regulations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alter, K. J., & Vargas, J. (2000). Explaining variation in the use of European litigation strategies: European Community law and British gender equality policy. Comparative Political Studies, 33(4), 452–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, P. (2006). Competing for the island lifeline: European law, state aid and regional public services. Regional Studies, 40(8), 953–966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Börzel, T. A. (2006). Participation through law enforcement. Comparative Political Studies, 39(1), 128–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bovis, C. H. (2005). Financing services of general interest in the EU: How do public procurement and state aid interact to demarcate between market forces and protection? European Law Journal, 11(1), 79–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, N. (1998). Global cities, global scales: Global city formation and state territorial in the European Union. Urban Studies, 36(3), 431–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, N. (1999). Globalisation as reterritorialisation: The re-scaling of urban governance restructuring in contemporary Europe. Review of International Political Economy, 5(1), 1–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, N. (2006). Locational policy, state rescaling and the new metropolitan governance in Western Europe. Paper presented COST A26 Meeting, Turku-Finland

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruhns, M. L. (2001). Dienste von allgemeinem wirtschaftlichem interesse im europäischen Binnenmarktrecht. Heidelberg: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität. http://www.dissonline.de.

  • CEC. (2007). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions: A single market for the 21st Century (COM 2007 724 final). Brussels: Commission for the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • CEC. (2008). Public procurement: Commission closes infringement proceedings against France concerning Law on public project contracting and its relationship to private project management ("Loi MOP"). Press release 26/06/2008, IP/08/1026.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conant, L. (2007). The politics of legal integration. Journal of Common Market Studies, 45(1), 45–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dedman, M. J. (1996). The origins and development of the European Union 1945-95: A history of European integration. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dougan, M. (2010). Legal developments. Journal of Common Market Studies, 48(1), 163–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, F. (2007). ‘Lately, things just don’t seem the same’: External shocks, party change and the adaptation of the Dutch Christian Democrats during ‘Purple Hague’ 1994–8. Party Politics, 13(1), 69–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ECJ. (2008). Action brought on 9 July 2008 – Commission of the European Commission v Kingdom of Spain (Case C-306/08). Official Journal of the European Union, 51(C223), 36.

    Google Scholar 

  • EEC. (1957). Treaty establishing the European Economic Community. Rome. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/. Accessed May 28, 2010.

  • Elsinga, M., Haffner, M., & Van der Heijden, H. (2008). Threats to the Dutch unitary rental market. European Journal of Housing Policy, 8(1), 21–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EP and CEU. (2004). Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts. Official Journal of the European Union, 47(L134), 114–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • EU-Bulletin. (2001, February, 1). Partly negative decision. In EUBulletin (Ed.), European Commission. Brussels

    Google Scholar 

  • EU. (2010). Consolidated version of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union. Official Journal of the European Union, 53(C83), 47–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • European-Commission. (2001, July 7). Commission decision of 13 February 2001 on the State Aid implemented by the Netherlands for SCI-Systems. In European-Commission (Ed.), Official Journal of the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • European-Commission. (2006a, March 1). State aid control and regeneration of deprived urban areas. Commission staff working document. Brussels: European Commission DG Competition.

    Google Scholar 

  • European-Commission. (2006b, November 7). Commission decision of 4 April 2006 on State Aid No C 33/2005 (ex N 277/2004) which the Netherlands is planning to implement under the Marktpassageplan project in Haaksbergen. In European Commission (Ed.), Official Journal of the European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faludi, A. (2004). Territorial cohesion: Old (French) wine in new bottles. Urban Studies, 41(7), 1349–1365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fligstein, N., & Mara-Drita, I. (1996). How to make a market: Reflections on the attempt to create a single market in the European Union. American Journal of Sociology, 102(1), 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gelderman, C. J., Ghijsen, P. W. T., & Brugman, M. J. (2006). Public procurement and EU tendering directives – explaining non-compliance. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 19(7), 702–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerbasi, J., & Warner, M. (2007). Privatisation, public goods, and the ironic challenges of free trade agreements. Administration&Society, 39(2), 127–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, H., Rimmer, S., & Arrowsmith, S. (1998). The economic impact of the European Union regime on public procurement: Lessons for the WTO. The World Economy, 21(2), 159–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. C. (2001). Democracy’s new challenge: Globalisation, governance and the future of American federalism. New York: DEMOS. http://www.demos-usa.org/Pubs/Global/grndts_democ_710.pdf

  • Green-Pedersen, C., & van Kersbergen, K. (2002). The politics of the “Third Way”. Party Politics, 8(5), 507–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groetelaers, D. (2006). Building land and urban land development process: Characteristics, rights and markets. XXIII FIG Congress: Shaping the change, Munich, Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hessel, B. (2008). Vijftien prejudiciële vragen in de zaak Sint Servatius. Bouwrecht, 2, 283–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessop, B. (2002). Liberalism, neoliberalism, and urban governance: A state-theoretical perspective. Antipode, 34(3), 452–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korthals Altes, W. (1994). Preparing for performance: The Dutch experience. European Spatial Research and Policy, 1, 77–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korthals Altes, W. (2002). Local government and the decentralisation of urban regeneration policies in the Netherlands. Urban Studies, 39(8), 1439–1452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korthals Altes, W. (2006). The single European market and land development. Planning Theory and Practice, 7(3), 247–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korthals Altes, W. (2007). The impact of abolishing social-housing grants on the compact-city policy of Dutch municipalities. Environment and Planning A, 39(6), 1497–1512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korthals Altes, W. K., & Taşan-Kok, T. (2010). The impact of European Public Contract Law on networks of governance: A relational approach. European Planning Studies, 18(6), 967–984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louw, E. (2008). Land assembly for urban transformations – The case of ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Land Use Policy, 25(1), 69–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLeod, G. (2001). New regionalism reconsidered: Globalisation and the remaking of political economic space. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 25(4), 804–829.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, H., & von Moltke, K. (1999). NAFTA’s Chapter 11 and the environment: Addressing the impacts of the investor-state process. IISD working paper. Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 84.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, J. (2004). Privatizing conditions of production: Trade agreements as neoliberal environmental governance. Geoffrey, 35(3), 327–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNally, R. (2001). No investment agreement within the WTO: Re-directing investment to promote sustainable development. Surrey: WWF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moolhuizen, M. (2005, May). Renewed European attention for PPP in land development, van Doorne Advocaten, Notarissen, Fiscalisten, van Doorne Legal News. Retrieved June 25, 2010, from http://www.vandoorne.nl/

  • Pachnou, D. (2000). Enforcement of the EU procurement rules: The standards required of national review system under EC law in the context of the principle of effectiveness. Public Procurement Law Review, 9(2), 55–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ploeger, H. D., & Groetelaers, D. A. (2007). The importance of the fundamental right to property for the practice of planning: An introduction to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on article 1, protocol 1. European Planning Studies, 15(10), 1423–1438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Priemus, H. (1995). How to abolish social housing – The Dutch case. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 19(1), 145–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sagalyn, L. B. (2007). Public/private development: Lessons form history, research, and practice. Journal of the American Planning Association, 73(1), 7–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shiue, C. (2005). From political fragmentation towards a customs union: Border effects of the German Zollverein, 1815 to 1855. European Review of Economic History, 9(2), 129–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoker, G. (1998). Governance as theory: Five propositions. International Social Science Journal, 50(1), 17–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swyngedouw, E. (1997). Neither global nor local: ‘glocalisation’ and the politics of scale. In K. Cox (Ed.), Spaces of globalisation (pp. 137–166). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swyngedouw, E., Moulaert, F., & Rodriguez, A. (2002). Neoliberal urbanisation in Europe: Large-scale urban development projects and the new urban policy. In N. Brenner & N. Theodore (Eds.), Spaces of neoliberalism: Urban restructuring in North America and Western Europe (pp. 195–225). Malden: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tallberg, J. (2002). Paths to compliance: Enforcement, management, and the European Union. International Organisation, 56(3), 609–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taşan-Kok, T. (2008). Urban regeneration via large-scale and public-led strategic projects: Complex but necessary? In M. Sitar (Ed.), Urban futures: Challenges and opportunities for cities and regions (pp. 58–76). Maribor: University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taşan-Kok, T., & Korthals Altes, W. K. (2008). Local urban policies and single European Market regulations: Dutch land policy in focus. International Academic Group on Planning, Law and Property Rights II Symposium, Warsaw.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tavares de Araujo, J. (1998). Trade, transparency and competition: FTAA and CER. http://ctrc.sice.oas.org/compol/Articles/trade.asp. Accesses on March 25, 2010

  • Uitermark, J. (2006). Re-scaling, ‘scale fragmentation’ and the regulation of antagonistic relations. Progress in Human Geography, 26(6), 743–765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Rooij, I. K., & Stol, P. M. (2006). Staatssteun en gebiedsontwikkeling: De beschikking inzake ‘Marktpassage Haaksbergen’. Tijdschrift voor Vastgoedrecht, 5, 114–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • VROM. (2005, May). Handreiking grondtransacties en staatssteun met achtergrond informatie over het Europese kader. VROM 5165. http://www.vrom.nl. Accessed on July 12, 2010

  • Warner, M., & Gerbasi, J. (2004). Rescaling and reforming the state under NAFTA: Implications for subnational authority. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 28(4), 858–873.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wishlade, F. (2008). Competition and cohesion – Coherence or conflict? European Union Regional State Aid Reform Post 2006. Regional Studies, 42(5), 753–765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tuna Taşan-Kok .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Taşan-Kok, T., Altes, W.K. (2012). Transnational Neoliberalisation and the Role of Supranational Trade Agreements in Local Urban Policy Implementation: The Case of the European Union. In: Tasan-Kok, T., Baeten, G. (eds) Contradictions of Neoliberal Planning. GeoJournal Library, vol 102. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8924-3_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics