Fiscal equalization between communities and regional policies towards regions seem to aim at the same objective: to relieve undesirable situations in specific segments of a given regional pattern. The purpose of the paper is to show that at a closer look the objectives and instruments, but also the underlying systems of regions, and finally the notion of regional disparity differ widely between the two approaches and do not allow for an amalgamation. This is exemplified by a look at typical policies in European countries, and at the end the different role of fiscal flows in each policy is pointed out.
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