THE USUAL SUSPECTS: THE ROTTERDAM EU INFORMAL MINISTERIAL MEETING ON TERRITORIAL COHESION.

In November 2004 the Dutch Presidency of the EU hosted a successful informal ministerial meeting on territorial cohesion. The paper discusses the concept of territorial cohesion and how it could be invoked, among others in relation to the Lisbon Strategy of turning Europe into the most competitive region of sustainable growth globally. This is put against the backdrop of previous Dutch involvement in the preparation of the European Spatial Development Perspective. The paper documents the preparation of the meeting and reports on the meeting itself and the conclusions of the Dutch Presidency. The meeting has generated commitment on the part of various Member States holding the EU Presidency (some of them with a long-standing involvement in such issues) between how and 2007 to pursue a common political agenda in so doing, these Member States signal their insistence in taking an active part in the preparation of any future EU territorial cohesion policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]