Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2018 number 4

The results of the EU referendum showed profound spatial differences in opinion across the UK. The referendum showed clear divides among voters by age, education, employment and social class - and by area. Spatial inequality has been widely discussed as a major factor explaining these differences. Currently, the EU Structural Funds are one of the key sources to mitigate economic development inequality in British regions. Structural Funds have been an important part of the UK regional policy environment for 40 years, and without EU co-financtng, it is likely that much of the regional and industrial policy intervention would have been largely abolished. The regional distribution of EU funding in the UK ensures that poorer regions receive higher per capita shares of the Structural Funds. The loss of EU Structural Funds is one consequence of Brexit and involves important questions as to whether and what kind of domestic regional development approach will take their place at different levels of government. The loss of EU Structural Funds will significantly affect the less-developed regions of the UK, as well as the former industrial regions that were major beneficiaries of EU funding. The policymaking process for territorial development needs to be reconsidered. For over 30 years, the primary motivation for UK regional policy has been almost exclusively one of economic efficiency, framed in terms of improving the contribution of regions to national growth and competitiveness. Brexit can also be viewed as an opportunity for a substantial transformation of policy and governance that begins to rebalance the most unequal developed country in Europe.