Do new brooms sweep clean? Striving for ‘A Just Europe’ in the Territorial Agenda 2030

Abstract

The Territorial Agenda 2030, adopted in December 2020, introduces a new policy frame: that of ‘A Just Europe’. This intergovernmental policy document is intended to guide territorial cohesion policy and strategic spatial planning in the EU member states. But what does the adjective ‘just’ mean and to what extent can it become operational? This paper firstly contextualises the policy frame of ‘a Just Europe’ within the policy and academic debates on spatial justice and territorial cohesion, and compares the Territorial Agenda 2030 with its forerunners. Drawing on text analysis and expert interviews, the paper investigates the rationales and expectations underpinning this policy frame. We demonstrate that instead of guiding measures, the Territorial Agenda 2030, like its forerunners, has essentially a motivational function to mobilise policy actions. We do however identify and discuss three rather novel conditions which, unlike those of its forerunners, may revitalise the European spatial planning discourse. Firstly, the new policy objective “a Europe closer to citizens” provides a legal basis for funding cross-sectoral place-based initiatives. Secondly, the envisaged pilot actions provide a ground for policy learning across Member States. Thirdly, under the heading of the European Green Deal, the Just Transition Mechanism aims to mobilise at least €100 billion in investment over the period 2021-2027. This is a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate whether the Green and Just objectives articulated in the TA 2030 will guide the implementation of this enormous financial scheme. This contribution demonstrates that spatial justice is an inspiring notion to critically reflect the current and future character of European spatial planning in general and territorial cohesion policy in particular.